CXVIII
Freedom's Last Stand
"Highfather… you cannot mean to…" The agony was apparent in Barda's voice as she struggled to finish her words to noble Izaya.
"No my dear, we may remove the Equation without taking my son's life... But still, there may be considerable consequences. The Equation is firmly rooted within the most powerful emotions and memories of Scott's entire life. There is no possibility of simply making him forget the Equation without the subsequent loss of these past experiences…"
"He will still remember me though, won't he?…" Barda wrapped her strong arms around Scott once more.
"Of course he will. But there will be moments in time forever lost to him. But this is the price he must pay if we are to avoid the dire prophecy…"
A deep voice of scorn interrupted the Highfather.
"I am afraid your Fate has been already sealed, Izaya…"
The crowd gasped as the hologram of Darkseid appeared once more in the opulent throne room of New Genesis. The arrogant, stone-faced God leered at the cowering throng before he continued on…
"The Pact has been broken, Inheritor. Your son has now returned to his father's shores. The Age of Peace has ended…. However, if you deliver him back to me immediately… I shall honor our Pact and keep peace between us. Apokolips also wishes to avoid an unnecessary war."
"Honor?! There is no honor in you, Darkseid. Would an honorable God have his own mother poisoned so that he may ascend to the throne? Or engineer a war between our worlds only so he may rule his own? You care for one thing and one thing only - power. Scott possesses the Anti-Life Equation – the tool that will allow you to crush the free will of all sentient life under the heels of your sadistic boots. You will never have him!"
"You are sentimental, Izaya. My mother was obsolete and unnecessary. As are we all – yet only I have the humility to comprehend this… or the ambition to ascend to our full stature. Even you know that we are not the oldest or most powerful beings in the Universe, and yet we still call ourselves its Gods… We are nothing more than fools. I speak only in truth. Your memories of the war seem different than mine, Inheritor.
It was not I who sent New Genesis or Apokolips to war. You attacked to quench your own need for revenge, as I recall… raising the deadly stakes of destruction until both worlds were but one tiny step from the abyss of Oblivion. Do you recall your role in the deaths of my world, or has the Source burned all such unpleasantness from your mind?
Then let Darkseid remind you, God of Wanton Opulence… We fought and gods died. New Genesis sought to extinguish all lights of Apokolips as well. Each of us has blood on our hands, Inheritor. But did I not grant you your heart's desire in order to end our war? Did I not conspire to send my own murderous uncle into your waiting army to pay for his barbaric crimes? To finally drown the fires of hatred burning in Izaya's warrior-heart, and allow us to establish peace?
The peace that has allowed a vindicated Izaya to rule this small, floating Paradise as a caring father to all. And now, within your grasp, you have what is the very birthright of Gods… the Anti-Life Equation! All thinking-life would call you 'Father'… Yet you would drown our salvation like an unwanted kitten, to shirk our divine responsibility for ignorance.
The Source has transfixed you, Inheritor - like a flower that only watches the sun; you follow only its divine light. Your pupils have been made too wide to peer into shadows of green and what terrible secrets lurk below. Those secrets will enslave us if we do not enslave them first.
Truly, you have no concept of what was taken from us, Izaya… Let Darkseid show you what it is to be a God! All of you… you have been made into slaves already, yet you are too content in your gilded cage to realize it. Or perhaps you wish my brother to destroy all of you so you may continue living the lie of ignorant dreams."
"I am no one's slave, Darkseid. All is revealed to me through the Source."
"Is it, Izaya?... Shall we ask the God of Knowledge, then? Could you locate Metron for me so that we may pose that question of him?"
"… Metron has traveled beyond the Wall, outside of our time."
"So there are things that even the Source may not see… interesting. Metron is still within the Universe, I assure you. He bears a fate worse than death with Gods you have chosen to forget."
"… I forget no Gods, Darkseid. What game do you play…"
"He only wishes she had died, Izaya. As does my own daughter, Zareah who is enslaved beside him… There are threads that Fate has hidden beneath our memories, if you but care to look. We Gods are simple pawns to the masters of Destiny, and we all serve in our chosen ways… but enough of this. Darkseid bows to no one. I alone will ascend the throne that was stolen from us, Izaya. Now... Give me Scott Free."
"Though the price of my answer may be war, you shall not have my son!"
"War, Izaya?" Darkseid laughed heartily as if a great jest had just unfolded. "There will be no war... I have bombarded this floating city with enough synthesized Element-X to Boom Tube it directly into the heart of a Black Hole. With but a simple thought, New Genesis will be…" Darkseid snapped his fingers for effect "…no more. The days of war have long passed us by, old friend. Now decide."
"You would sacrifice the New Gods themselves in your mad lust for power?!"
"Of course. Only to have them reborn on Apokolips… and raised to worship the one true God… Darkseid."
"Monster! My answer remains the same!" Izaya pointed his staff at the hologram.
"No father…" Scott now spoke. "I will go… Darkseid, if I leave willingly, will you spare New Genesis and the lives of all Gods here?"
"A clear mind speaks!... Your time on Apokolips has served you well. I should have spoken to you first, Scott Free. So be it. Join me and remain on Apokolips, and do not use the Equation's powers against me… or any of my citizens, and New Genesis and its indolent Gods shall be spared."
"As a Prince of New Genesis, let this be the Pact between us."
"As the Lord of Apokolips, so let it be."
"NOOOO!" Barda gripped Scott tightly. "I won't let you do this! Let Darkseid be damned!"
"Barda, I must do this. He does not make idle threats. Darkseid will destroy New Genesis… and you."
"Better dead than a slave! You don't know what it's really like, Scott, living under the tyranny of Darkseid… Please… There must be another way. I can't lose you… not when I just got you back…"
Scott kissed his wife one last time.
"Barda, I love you. More than anything, you have to remember that. You were the only thing that held my soul together. You were the one who gave me my life again. You can never die. Trust that our love will find a way. Promise me that."
A Boom Tube appeared in front of Scott while the image of Darkseid impassively spoke to him.
"It is time, Scott Free. Return to Apokolips - where you belong."
Izaya gripped his son by the shoulder to restrain him, a tear falling from his eye, woefully shaking his bearded head from side-to-side in denial. His son placed a gentle hand on his father's worn cheek, staring deeply into ancient blue eyes that showed a soul being torn apart. There were no words spoken between them, only the overwhelming sorrow of silence. Behind him, the mighty Barda fell to her knees, crushed by the weight of the cruel thing that her husband must do while the King of New Genesis felt his hand slip from the God of Freedom… his son.
Scott Free stepped into the Boom Tube.
On Apokolips, Darkseid and his cronies laughed. Their Lord was supreme.
On New Genesis, the Gods cried. But all the Gods combined could not match the sorrow that devastated Barda…
Scott Free stepped out of the Boom Tube onto the burned floors of the Lord of Apokolips, kneeling before the stony carapace of a laughing Darkseid.
"Welcome home, step-son. How well you know your place!"
"Have I fulfilled my obligations, Dark Lord?"
"You will remain here for the rest of your life and not use the Equation against me or my citizens?"
"I will not."
"Then New Genesis will be spared. I declare our Pact valid, Scott Free."
"Then as a Prince of New Genesis, I also declare our Pact valid, Darkseid."
Scott then stood to his full height before he continued, glaring at the Lord of Apokolips directly… as the Equation now completed its final calculation of Sorrow and Hatred within his mind before he spoke his final words…
"Cast the Equation across the Sea of Oblivion and die, Scott Free!"
Darkseid watched in horror as the God of Freedom collapsed to the scorched stone…
Dead.
Eyes of Omega energy could only silently stare as the Black Racer carried off the only hope that the God of Tyranny had ever allowed himself to feel.
Author's Note: There will be a happy ending! I pinkie-promise!