Sketches of Hells
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,
and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
—H.P. Lovecraft
Apokolips
For all practical purposes, everyone on Apokolips was a God. From Darkseid, down through the elite to the Lowlies, they are all Gods of the Fourth World.
Even Gods have nightmares.
Darkseid ruled with an iron fist and fear. He was immensely powerful; perhaps one of the most powerful beings in the universe, but this did not give him exclusivity on fear.
They had all heard the old stories of the time before and the monsters that lived then. Every citizen of Apokolips knew them. Those stories were the source of children sobbing in the dark as imaginary monsters lurked under their beds.
As they grew older everyone on Apokolips realized those stories weren't just fables to frighten young children. They were the stuff of legend. They were the remains of the time before. But those fears linger as perhaps some primal holdover from the ancestors. They are universal to Gods and man alike. The dark, monsters, loneliness, pain are just a few but they linger deep inside the reaches of everyone's minds.
Darkseid had conditioned everyone on Apokolips to fear him. Like any good totalitarian leader, he made sure his subjects never knew what he might do or why. They all knew their lives hung by a thread, subject to his whims or desires. He used those primal fears to his advantage. Hubris didn't allow him to consider that those fears weren't exclusively tied to him.
Apokolips and its bright counterpart, New Genesis, were spawned by the destruction of Urgrund the world of the "Old Gods". They were literally built on the ruins of the previous worlds. One need only venture below the surface to see this. There was the Necropolis an underground labyrinth, which was the home to the Dreggs, the last surviving Old Gods. The Dreggs survived the sundering of Urgrund, but were rendered mindless. Below the Necropolis was the Black Ways, another labyrinth that was the prison of Sirius, one of the last few surviving Old Gods, stuck in the form of a large wolf.
Apokolips was built on the burial grounds of those Old Gods. Like traveling deep into one's psyche, the lower you go the more primal the fears you encounter. It was to these fears the Golden Goddess whispered. For here, perhaps alone in the universe they knew the old stories of the Second World. They knew who she was and even her name.
She was Iusaaset, the Grandmother of all the Gods.
When she appeared over the capital in all her glory, from Lowlies to High Born, they knew without a word. Those nightmares of childhood weren't just legends and fables they were real.
The terrifying Old God warriors that accompanied her just drove this point home.
Darkseid and his armada arrived to find their world under siege. He stood on his command deck witnessing what so many had witnessed by his own hand. His army went into action, joining the battle. He would not allow this to happen, as this world was his to control. He personally joined the fray, wiping out untold thousands with his Omega beams, yet they kept coming.
It was when the Dregs, those mindless survivors of the past, began to emerge from the Necropolis that Darkseid knew this was unlike any other battle. Individually, he had no equal, yet the Golden Goddess seemed to know this too. A hyena doesn't bring down a Cape buffalo alone. They overwhelm it in a pack. Sheer numbers can overcome the strongest when they are alone.
Darkseid finally got his first glimpse of the Golden Goddess. She stood atop his Palace, arms raised, the power glistening from her. He knew that every being on Apokolips could see her as well. It was a strategic position, he knew. She let them know she had returned and tapped into those primal fears. He fired his Omega beams at her, but she phased harmlessly through them. It was a mistake, he knew immediately and he had just fed into her growing power. The citizens of Apokolips had just seen his most terrifying weapon become useless against her. It showed weakness on his part.
He saw her smile at him. She unleashed a bolt of her own that ripped into the ground. The city began to shake and the citizens ran blindly with fear. Darkseid cursed her, as he watched mad Sirius, the Wolf emerge, unshackled by his bonds. The old God was beyond rage as it tore into everything and anything. Panic, the likes of which Darkseid thought only he could create, overwhelmed the planet. He fired his Omega beams at the wolf, but they didn't kill it, only wounded the beast. If anything it enraged Sirius more.
His second mistake, Darkseid realized. With each new display of his power, it seemed to play into the Goddess' hands. He no longer had fear on his side, she did. He ordered his entire army to attack and then stepped back. Darkseid needed to think. If billions had to be sacrificed for him to win, that was acceptable. The only thing that matter was that he came out of this triumphant.
Outside of Time
Anything outside of time draws the attention of powerful forces in the universe. When the thing was someone as powerful as Superman, they draw special attention. The normal rules do not apply when they are not in the continuity of space and time. All bets are off.
Whether it was retribution for past deeds or simply for amusement, Clark would never know. His spiral upwards through time was suddenly altered and he was thrust into another dimension. He landed hard and felt bodies fall underneath him. Regaining his balance, Clark gazed around him and saw he was engulfed in a multitude of beings. Humans were predominant, but aliens of all shapes and descriptions littered the crowd. An impossibly large city towered over all of them and added to the claustrophobic feel of everything. It was impossible to stand still, as the tide of people kept shifting and moving. Clark was carried along, jostled and smashed against an infinite swarm of people. Madness was the only description that came to his mind.
"Where are we?" He shouted over the din of noise that threatened to deafen him. Even with them crushed against him, the others didn't seem to notice him. Clark was somehow alone in the crowd. He slowly realized they were all alone, unable to connect with anyone else.
He started to rise above the mob, but even in the air he kept running into others. Higher and higher he climbed, yet there was no end to it, it seemed. He screamed in frustration, yet none around him reacted. He could see they were all screaming, yet he couldn't hear a word they said. This was isolation of a kind he'd never imagined.
Clark caught a glimpse of a blinking sign on one of the impossibly large buildings and tried his best to see what it said. He could make no headway against the others and finally in frustration began to toss them out of his way. They reacted, but they weren't seeing him as the cause of their suddenly change in direction. At last he broke through the swarm long enough to see the blinking sign.
"Welcome to Hell, lowest level."
New Genesis
Darkseid considered himself a master chess player. Strategy and seeing the long-term goal had always been his forte. He considered everyone else in the universe merely pieces on the board. He was here on New Genesis to move a powerful and useful piece into play. He could feel the fear as he walked into the garden of the High Father. These weak beings disgusted him, but they could be useful in destroying Iusaaset. Once they helped him deal with the immediate threat they would be ripe for conquest. Short term versus long term, this was the right play, Darkseid knew. He found High Father tending his garden. Darkseid repressed his revulsion at the weakness. High Father looked up and seemed on alert.
"You are not welcome here, Darkseid."
"I have little interest in remaining here,' Darkseid replied. "My visit is necessary. A threat has arisen that puts both our worlds in danger."
"You speak of the Goddess,' High Father said.
"Yes, Iusaaset has returned. This isn't good for either of our planets,' Darkseid informed him.
"She attacks your planet as we speak, doesn't she?" High Father asked.
"You know she does,' Darkseid dismissively replied. "How long do you think it will take her to turn her sights on your world? You know what happened the last time she was in the world. She was the cause of the end of the Second World and we don't want a repeat of this world."
'No, we don't,' High Father agreed. "What are you proposing, Darkseid?"
"For our mutual survival as well as the rest of the universe, we present a united front and end her threat once and for all."
"You care little of the rest of the universe, Darkseid, except to rule it,' High Father replied. "Why should anyone from New Genesis help you?"
"Because billions will die if you don't,' Darkseid replied. "You may not care for me, High Father but you must realize what she will do loose in this world. She has been back a brief time and already she has returned to the old ways. She attacks Apokolips and will continue her reign of destruction unless she is stopped."
High Father seemed to think about this for a moment, but then his attention was draw to something behind Darkseid. The sound of clapping made Darkseid turn. The Golden Goddess was standing behind him, a predatory smile on her face.
"You!" He shouted.
"Yes, Darkseid,' she replied. "I have learned your name in the short time I've been back."
"Good, it will be the name on your dying lips."
"Perhaps." She said and then turned her attention to High Father. "I have felt you too through the source, High Father. I would caution you on joining Darkseid in this war."
"I know all about you, Iusaaset,' High Father replied. "Your name and reputation are still remembered in the stories of the olden times. You savagery and butchery were unprecedented before or since. I will fight to stop you if that is what must be done."
Iusaaset moved slowly towards the two Gods. She was their equal in size, yet there was something even more elemental about her. She slowly raised her sword and looked at it. She smiled and then looked at High Father.
"Yes those old stories are all true,' she said. "I deny nothing, but before the end of the Second World a man out of time presented me with another choice. I will still fight anyone that attacks me, never doubt that."
"She must be stopped,' Darkseid grimly said.
She looked at him and then returned her attention to High Father.
"I have made it from the end of the Second World to this one,' she said. "I as not the one that started this conflict, Darkseid was. Even a pacifist like you High Father when attacked retains the right to defend yourself. I haven't come all this way just to fall meekly at the feet of tyrant. I fight because Darkseid has attacked me. You have a choice, High Father.'
"And what would that be?" He asked.
"You can join with Darkseid and fight me, in which case I will do everything in my power to destroy your world,' she said. "Or you can let him fight his own battles and I will leave you alone. This is my offer and your choice."
"How do I know I can trust you, Iusaaset, to keep your word?" High Father asked. "Given your history, how do I know if you defeat Darkseid you won't turn and attack my world anyway?"
"You don't,' she replied.
"So it's a threat she offers,' Darkseid scoffed.
"No,' she said with a shake of her head. "It is a choice, between my word and Darkseid's, High Father. Of the two of us, who do you know for sure will go back on their word as they have before?"
"Darkseid."
The Dark God lashed out hitting Iusaaset with all his might. She went flying back and landed hard. She sat up wiping golden blood from her lips and then smiled.
"Who was it that brought violence to your world first, High Father?" She asked.
"Darkseid."
Darkseid the chess player knew he'd just lost another piece in the game.
"Who was this man out of time?" Darkseid asked, his rage building with each passing moment.
"I don't know his name, but he was a Kryptonian." She replied.
Kal-El, Darkseid silently cursed.
The Watchtower
Hippolyta thanked the technician and sat up on the side of the medical bed. Her ribs were bruised but that was of little consequence to her. She was back in her own time and her daughter was alive. As the technician left the room, Hippolyta thought of little else but speaking to Diana. There were so many things she wanted to say to her. If anything this ordeal had taught her she could not count on having all the time in the world anymore. Fates could change in a moment.
Where to start though, that was the question, Hippolyta thought.
As she pondered this, the door to the room opened and closed. The lights were dim, but she could make out General Phillipus having known the woman for centuries. As Hippolyta looked at her oldest friend, she saw something that surprised her. Phillipus had tears in her eyes.
"Phillipus?"
"I thought you were really dead,' Phillipus replied. "When you told me of your plans I knew that was the likely outcome, but it didn't seem real to me until the moment of your disappearance."
"I was prepared to make the sacrifice,' Hippolyta said.
"I know and I respect you for that,' Phillipus offered, moving closer in the room. "It's just I'd always believed you would be there. I imagined I would die before you, old friend. You have been my only Queen and greatest friend all these years that I couldn't imagine a world without you in it."
"I saw no other choice,' Hippolyta softly replied. "I had no wish to die. For the record I cannot imagine a world without you in it either, Phillipus."
"I love you Hippolyta.' Phillipus said as she stepped closer to the other woman. "I think I always have."
Hippolyta smiled and took the other woman's hand.
"I never thought you would actually say it, Phillipus. I love you as well, but our positions have always been in the way."
"Yes, it always seemed improper to think of my Queen in that way,' Phillipus admitted.
"I am not your Queen now."
"After what has just happened, I wouldn't care if you were,' Phillipus replied. She moved forward and gently kissed Hippolyta.
Apokolips
The Old God warriors were in a berserker rage, killing everything in sight. They seemed intent on destroying all of Apokolips before they were done. It appeared when the Golden Goddess had awakened them; they had been locked into those final moments of the Second World. The all-consuming blood lust had not diminished. She had given them a target and they unleashed all their rage at it.
Lashina stood on top of one of the cities tallest buildings taking it all in. Everywhere she looked she saw chaos and battle. The other Furies had abandoned her, but it mattered little. She didn't need others to fight for her life. She watched as the mad Wolf God, Sirius free at last laid waste to Darkseid's palace. The Dark God was nowhere to be seen and Lashina began to wonder if he'd abandoned them all to their fate.
Others had tried to step into his place in his absence, but she would follow none of them. His sons were pale shadows of Darkseid and Lashina remembered only too well how they had used their positions to take what they wanted when she was younger. When she had grown strong enough, she had put an end to all that, so there was no way she would willingly go back. Granny Goodness had the same ideas, along with Desaad. They had been the ones that tortured Lashina into obedience. The thought of following their orders without Darkseid behind them repulsed her.
No, if the Lord and Master of Apokolips, Darkseid had abandoned all of them, then Lashina would make her own way. With that one simple thought, a dangerous new world opened up to her. It could happen that fast, a stray thought crosses a mind and everything changes. What once seemed written in stone suddenly crumbles as new alternatives present themselves. It is the moment tyrants since the beginning of time have always feared. When their subjects realize that things don't always have to be as they are.
She saw them coming towards her and a smile came to Lashina's lips. She didn't turn and run like all the others, but stood her grown against the nightmarish Old Gods. In their frenzy of blood lust there was no subtly to their attack. They were like bulls in a china shop, crashing head long towards her. She waited until the last possible moment before she moved. Lashina shifted like some violent ballerina, grace, beauty and death all combined into one. Her whips hit with deadly accuracy over and over. She was nearly their equal in power and their superior in fighting prowess. Her smile only grew as their blood splattered all around her.
She was moving in for the last killing blow when two Omega beams destroyed the last of her attackers. She turned to see Darkseid behind her. Out of instinct she dropped to her knees.
"My Lord,' she said.
"I have a task for you, Lashina,' he said.
"I know not where the other Furies are, my Lord,' she replied.
"I didn't ask where the others were,' he snarled. "This is for you and you alone!"
"Yes, my Lord, anything."
"Go, find the Kryptonian, Kal-El, and bring him back to me,' Darkseid ordered. "Do not even think of returning without him."
"Yes, my Lord."
Lashina activated her Mother box and a Boom Tube opened. She disappeared in the next moment. Darkseid took in the destruction all around him. Iusaaset was a skilled player of the game, but he was still the master. It might take longer than he hoped, but he would defeat her and his dominance would be undisputed once again. He would also deal with that accursed Kryptonian, Superman, who had been a thorn in his side all these years once and for all. After that, the universe would know who its master truly was.
Gotham
Bruce sat on the back terrace just looking out over the lawn. His mind was elsewhere, replaying the scene in Japan again. It had just been a moment, but in that last moment he thought he saw something in Masami. He thought he'd actually gotten through to her and reached her. Then everything turned to ashes.
Selina stood just inside the windows watching Bruce. She could guess what he was thinking about. In many ways she knew him as well as just about anyone except Alfred. Where others saw all the triumphs he achieved, even being just an ordinary man she understood they weren't what defined him. It was the losses, the failures that made Bruce Wayne who he was. From the very beginning it was a loss that changed the course of his life to becoming the Batman. Even as his reputation and legend grew it was the loses that haunted him. For every hundred victories there was a price that seemed to always be paid. Someone was crippled or someone lost his or her life. Each time it was like a knife to his heart. He went further and further into the darkness that was Batman, yet the good man was still there.
Masami had touched something very close to Bruce. It was something at his core and Selina saw first hand how hard he fought to save her. She had seen the expression on his face as Masami was killed and knew the heartbreaking sadness that he was still dealing with. Selina's hand went to the doorknob, but then hesitated. They had been playing their game for several years now and both of them secretly enjoyed it. She knew if she went out to him now, something fundamental would change between them. In all likelihood he would push her away and things would never be the same between them again. Selina's hand moved away from the knob.
She started to step away, to leave him be, but stopped. Glancing out the French doors, she saw the only man she had ever truly loved was in pain. Now matter what might change, she couldn't just walk away. Things would change no matter what, so she went back and turned the knob.
He didn't acknowledge her as she set a glass of ice tea down in front of him and took the chair opposite. He knew what she was about to do. He knew it would change things between them.
"Don't,' he said to her.
"I kind of have to,' she replied.
He looked away from her, not wanting to see her eyes. She nervously took a sip of her ice tea and then plunged ahead.
"You got through to her, Bruce."
"Maybe,' he admitted. "For all the good it did in the end. She's still dead, Selina."
"Yes, she is."
Silence fell between them. It was Bruce that spoke first this time.
"I so desperately wanted to save her,' he whispered. "Just this once I wanted to be a real hero and save the damsel in distress."
"You are a hero, Bruce, as real as they get."
"Then it's not enough,' he replied. "She's still dead."
"You reached her, Bruce,' Selina said. "No matter for how short of time, you reached her. Only a hero would even try."
"I thought if I could save her, I might be able to save …" His voice trailed off.
"Sorrow is part of the hero's journey, Bruce. You touched her and so many others' lives, in so many ways,' Selina replied. "It's that hope that makes you a hero, don't lose that now."
"They all die in the end, Selina,' he whispered. "Everyone I let in ends up the same way. I can't seem to reach them in time, ever. I never save the damsel in distress."
Selina stood up and moved over to him. She knelt down and looked him in the eyes and held his gaze.
"That's not true,' she whispered. "You touch so many more than you realize. You touched me. I may not be a typical damsel in distress, but without you my fate would be very different than it is today. You made a difference in my life, Bruce."
She gave him a smile and he returned it with a weak one.
"Everyday someone leaves work in Gotham and makes it to their car and then home, you've inadvertently helped save them, Bruce." She continued. "The gangs that would have preyed on them don't anymore, because of Batman, because of you, Bruce. For however short a time it was, you got through to Masami and that's a victory. Yes, it's a bittersweet one but it's still a victory. Don't let the darkness win now, Bruce."
He leaned in and kissed her in thanks. She returned it and then moved back to her chair across from him. Something had changed between them, but it wasn't as frightening as either had imagined. What they already had wasn't lost, but it was just enhanced. As if to make this point, he joked with her.
"Thank you, Selina, but I should point out, I know you took the Jade Cat statue back earlier,' Bruce said. "I not going to let you get away with it, you know that don't you?"
She smiled at him.
"I said you changed my fate some, but not completely, Bruce,' she replied. "I'm still sort of work in progress."
"I look forward to seeing that."
"Don't worry, you will,' she commented. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"That's the best news I've heard all day."