Happy Holidays, everyone. Consider this my winter gift to all of my fellow readers. Throughout the rest of the month, I will be uploading and updating new stories, current stories, and short stories. This will all culminate in one massive update on Christmas Day. I hope you all enjoy.

Darius ran across a sterile tile floor in a blank white hallway. A hallway with no windows and only a door on each end. In front of him was freedom, one room closer to escaping the hell that he experienced his entire life. Behind him, following at his heels, lay a hail of bullets whose keepers wanted nothing more than to drag him back into torment.

"Subject O-12 is almost to the main lab. Seal the doors, don't let it get away." The last guard, the last surviving guard, shouted into the comlink in his ear. Darius could hear the desperation in his voice. This facility had twenty levels built into it, with seventeen of those levels underground, hidden from the public eye. He had already torn through sixteen of those levels, starting from the bottom.

Noticing the door in front of him descending from the ceiling at a worrying speed, he pushed his body harder. Just before the door closed completely, he dropped and slid across the floor like a pro baseball player sliding for home base. Darius didn't get up from the floor until his heart rate dropped back down to a manageable pace.

It. Darius couldn't keep himself from snorting at the thought. Even during a panic, the people of this facility couldn't bring themselves to see him as human. In the grand scheme of things, it made sense. You couldn't do the things they did to him without finding some way to rationalize it. Their way of doing it was by deciding he wasn't a real person. As far as they were concerned, he was nothing more than a hunk of meat unworthy of the same decency that "real" people are born with.

"An impressive performance, O-12, but you must know you're doomed to fail no matter how far you get." Darius turned to the massive screen belonging to the lab's main computer. Displayed on the screen was a face that he, unfortunately, knew all too well. The voice belonged to a middle-aged, slightly overweight black woman. However, despite the underwhelming appearance, Darius knew to be wary. While he had never met her in person, her name was whispered in fearful respect all throughout the building. Amanda Waller was a woman that had more than earned that kind of respect.

"I wouldn't say doomed, Ms. Waller," Darius says as he ignores his body's protests and forces himself to stand. He wouldn't allow himself to show weakness in front of this woman. As he stood, he took a moment to assess himself. A few of the bullets managed to graze him around his arms, and one of them caught him in the shoulder, leaving a bleeding hole behind. It was a small problem, one he would deal with once he was free.

"If you surrender now, then I can guarantee you won't be harshly punished for this act of insubordination." He couldn't stop himself from laughing at the offer.

"That is a funny choice of words. 'Insubordination' makes it sound like I'm some kind of soldier." The more Darius spoke the louder his voice became and his earlier laughter quickly turned into a roar. "As if I had any choice in any of this. As if I had a choice whether I spent my entire life being turned into a weapon." Waller was undaunted by his show of fury. Her face a mask of indifference against his rage.

"Everything that has been done to you, everything you have been prepared to you has been for the greater good."

"How is turning me into your personal attack dog for the greater good? Sounds to me like this all just for your benefit." The slight twitching of her left eyebrow told him that his words were starting to have an effect. "It's funny how every time people like you use the excuse that what they do is for the greater good, it's anything but. Be honest, Waller, how much of what was done to me was for the good of the country, and how much of it was done to keep yourself in control?"

The fury in Waller's eyes sucked all the warmth out of the room. All she did for the longest moment was stare. Despite himself, Darius couldn't fight the cold shiver running up his spine.

"I'll have to tell the lab boys to do something about that rebellious streak. The government doesn't need a weapon that thinks for itself. The guards will be there in three minutes. I suggest you stop trying to postpone the inevitable and accept your role, O-12."

"My name is Darius," he muttered at the blank screen. It was a name he found in one of the history books he was forced to study. The name of a great man that he took for his own.

Darius went over to one of the work tables and grabbed a battery, a handful of wires, and a pair of pliers. He tried to tune out the increasing noise at the door as he worked. After a few minutes, he had his wires wound together. He attached one end to the battery while he held the other end near his inhibitor collar. I really hope this works. He carefully held the wires between his fingers and steeled his nerves as he prepared for what would come next. Without further delay, he stuck the collection of copper wiring into the small space between his neck and the collar, the wiring jammed into the circuitry and metal underneath.

Sparks of electricity popped off the collar and struck his neck. Darius gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore the pain long enough for the infernal contraption to shut down. After another agonizing second, the lock of the collar released with a satisfying click, and he threw it to the ground. He rubbed his hands up against his neck in an attempt to soothe the burning sensation around his throat. He gave the disgusting choker a venomous look. Just looking at the damn thing was enough to bring back the memories of every shock that came each time his handlers thought he needed 'discipline' for his apparent acts of rebellion.

Darius held out his hand over the collar and concentrated, just as he had been trained. He watched as the collar floated off the floor and hovered in the air. He then tightened his hand into a fist and watched with supreme satisfaction as the collar twisted and snapped under his psychic will. With a thought, the metal continued to warp and mold until it was nothing but a ball of steel the size of his fist.

Not bad. Just as he finished his thought, the door to the room blew off its hinges with a loud crash. Armored men rushed into the room with their guns trained on him, ready to fire at the slightest provocation.

"Subject O-12, by the order of the United States of America, return to your cell immediately," the lead man ordered. Darius smirked. It seems they were under the misconception that he was still wearing his inhibitor collar.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, captain." He raised his hand and pulled his middle finger back behind his thumb.

"Fire," the captain ordered. At his word, a volley of bullets flew in Darius's direction. Unlike before, he didn't run away; rather, he faced the oncoming projectiles head-on. With a simple wave of his opposite hand, the bullets stopped mid-flight. As the soldiers continued to unload their ammunition, more bullets joined the other in their stationary position in the air. By the time the men's guns were finally empty, they could barely even see the escaped prisoner. After another second, the bullets dropped to the floor. At that moment, it seemed that the captain finally understood that he was no longer dealing with a defenseless escapee. With that new clarity, he did the only logical thing. "Please, don't."

"Be honest, captain. If I was the one begging for forgiveness, what would you do?" He asked casually as he inspected his fingernails. "And before you answer, I would like to remind you I will know if you are lying." Silence was his answer. Without a word, the captain and his men dropped their weapons to the ground. They wouldn't do any good either way. Darius had been waiting to do this ever since he first started planning his escape. What happened next would be in retribution for every beating, every insult, and every grievance these men dolled out to him.

At his unspoken word, the metal sphere that used to be his inhibitor collar floated up into the air until it reached eye level. With a flick of his finger, the metal ball burrowed its way in and threw the captain's head quick as a bullet. With another thought, it curved and flew through the head of the next man and the next. One by one, each man fell to his makeshift bullet. The slaughter didn't even last a second. Without even sparing the carnage, he caused a second look, he turned and left the room.

Leaving the building wasn't even a challenge after that. Admittedly, there were a few more firefights and a few more bodies left in his wake, but ultimately, he finally left the building he had been held prisoner in all his life. Feeling dramatic, Darius kicked down the door and set his sights on the outside world for the first time.

The first thing he saw was a smoke-ridden, polluted sky. The smell of garbage filled his nose and overwhelmed his senses like a slap to the face. The sound of screeching tires and cursing drivers filled his ears.

"Of course, I ended up in Gotham," he muttered. A moment later, he saw something streaking through the sky. Darius wasn't completely sure if it was a plane, a helicopter, or a rocket. It didn't matter whatever it was; it had the right idea. "I am not staying in this cesspool."

Despite its vaunted nickname as "The City of Tomorrow," Metropolis wasn't that much different from any other city. True, it was bigger, more prosperous, and it had a big blue flying alien as a guard dog, but it was still just another city. It had its good parts populated by well-mannered, well-paid citizens, and it had its slums populated by the desperate and the degenerates. For someone like Darius, the slums were more preferable.

He stayed in Gotham just long enough to find a back alley doctor to patch up the bullet wound in his shoulder. Once he was properly bandaged up, he left the city immediately.

Now, what do I do? It was ironic. After months of planning, he escaped from the facility, but now he was unsure what to do next. After years of being told when to train, when to eat, when to sleep, it felt almost unnatural to make decisions for himself. He now had an entire lifetime of possibilities laid out before him. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.

As Darius continued to walk down the dirt-ridden streets of the slum, he heard a conversation going on behind him. As he turned around, his heart began to race. Less than fifty feet away from him, two men in black trench coats were speaking to a vendor selling his less-than-legal DVDs.

"We are looking for this man." One of the men in the trench coats held up a picture. If Darius were a betting man, he would guess his image was on there. "Any information on him will be greatly appreciated. He is a dangerous criminal and needs to be brought to justice."

Darius didn't stick around to hear the rest of the conversation. As discreetly as he could, he moved away from the two men. Once he was out of sight, he ran down the street as fast as his legs could carry him. He could easily deal with the two men in less than a second. However, their disappearances would be noticed by the police, the government, or worse, Superman.

He hadn't done anything in Gotham that would have left a trail for them to follow here. It was more likely that they were sweeping through all the major cities, hoping to find some trace of him somewhere to follow. They should no better. They trained him to be better than that.

As he continued down the alleyway, he noticed a loose sewer grate nearby. It was not the nicest or cleanest place to hide, but it would suffice. With a wave of his hand, the grate slid to the ground, and he jumped down to the sewer below.

He was never more grateful for his powers than he was at that moment as he floated over the mix of water, filth, whatever else people flushed down their toilets. The smell was an issue easily dealt with as well. He had to be careful, though. He was carefully sifting through the air molecules around him, picking and purifying what was air and what came from the waste below him. It took more effort than he was used to. What he was doing took precision. One wrong molecule, and he could turn the air toxic. As he went down deeper into the sewers, something changed.

Is that music? The more Darius listened, the more sure he became that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. It was music he was hearing. It was stereotypical Arabian music, the kind you would hear in a cheesy adventure movie whenever the protagonist went anywhere resembling a Middle Eastern country.

Darius followed the music until the river of sewage stopped at an area of concrete flooring. For the first time since he had come down there, he let his feet touch the ground before continuing on. As he followed the music, he noticed a light coming from the direction he was walking. Darius walked carefully now. It was likely that there were people farther ahead now, and there was no guarantee that they were friendly. He crept up to the curve of the tunnel and peaked his head around the corner.

Darius noticed two things. The first was an absolutely hideous goblin-like creature standing with its back to him only a few feet ahead. From what he could tell, the creature was relatively short, only coming up to his leg. It had swamp-green skin and long ears that pointed sideways. The second was the gorgeous woman dancing in front of the creature. She had long, straight black hair that flowed down her back. She wore a strange outfit; it seemed only to be a mass of tassels to cover her modesty. One section covered her breasts, while another covered her crotch. However, her most impressive feature was her height. She stood well past six feet and was well-muscled while still having an eye-catching figure.

"Dance my pretty, dance for Sleez," the goblin jeered. The woman danced and swayed to the music; Darius couldn't help but be mesmerized by the view. The woman moved with grace and precision that spoke of training. Suddenly, she stopped and fell to her knees as if she was fighting against some unseen force.

"Sleez," the woman groaned.

"You speak! " he said, sounding surprised. Was he controlling her somehow? "Your strength of will is great indeed, daughter of Apokolips." The name sent a chill down his spine. Apokolips was a planet he learned about during his education. A hellish place ruled by a cruel god called Darkseid. Most of the residents there had abilities of some kind, most of them being stronger than the average human. This begs the question, if this woman was an inhabitant of Apokolips, why was she debasing herself for this goblin? Based on a hunch, Darius probed the woman's mind. He was careful, only looking at her surface thoughts, but that was more than enough. There was a fog surrounding the woman's mind, one that led him to believe she was under some form of suggestion or mind control. He could get rid of it, but he needed time.

"Who are you?" She managed to get out barely. "I have never heard the name Sleez spoken on Apokolips." From there, Sleez told the woman of his origins. He spoke of how he was banished from Apokolips by Darkseid. How even a god of evil and despair found his tastes too disgusting and unsightly and cast him out for them. From there, Sleez hid in the shadows of the slums, waiting for his time to strike. He bragged about how he would use the woman as a captive, and nothing would stand in his way. After that, Darius had heard enough.

Suddenly, Sleez found himself slammed into the wall by an unseeable force. The wall cracks under the pressure. The woman turned to see Darius stepping out of the shadows. He was able to free her from Sleez's mind control, but she would be disoriented for a few minutes.

"My megarod," she rasped. He turned to see a gold metal rod had fallen from Sleez's grasp. With a wave of his hand, Darius sent the object into the woman's hands. The woman forced herself to stand before walking over to the trapped Sleez. Standing over her former captor, the woman gave Darius a questioning look. Understanding the look in her eyes, he nodded.

"He's all yours." At his mental command, Sleez fell to the floor. Darius watched in satisfaction as the woman raised her weapon and brought it down on the goblin's head. Heedless of the creature's begging, the woman swung her rod down on him again and again, each swing coming down faster, fueled by her righteous anger. The woman didn't stop until Sleez was nothing but a green smear on the sewer floor. Another disgusting addition to the sewer. Once her vengeance was sated, the woman turned back to him.

"You have my thanks, human, but who are you?" He could hear the suspicion in her voice.

"Before I explain myself, do you mind if we move locations? I'm beginning to grow tired of the sewers." Eventually, the woman nodded, and together they left. Darius led the woman to the motel he had been staying in since he had arrived in Metropolis. Once they arrived, Darius introduced himself. In turn, the woman introduced herself as Barda. From there, the questioning continued.

"How did you stop Sleez?"

"Why did you help me?"

"What do you want in return?"

Darius chose to be honest with Barda. He explained his origins, his escape from the facility, and his stay in Metropolis. As Darius told his story, he could see Barda's expression shift from one of suspicion to understanding. However, even as her expression softened, her firm stance never changed. Even if she believed him, she was ready in case he showed any sign of treachery.

"You still didn't answer my second question," Barda pointed out. "Why did you help me?"

"I lived my entire life being made into a tool against my will. I wasn't going to watch that happen to someone else." At his words, Barda's stance finally relaxed, and with that, her expression shifted to something more… flirtatious.

"Well then," Barda walked forward until she was only a hairs breath away from him. "I need to reward such a selfless man." With that, Barda shoved him down to the edge of the nearby bed. Once he sat up, he watched as Barda got down on her knees and started to unbuckle his pants.

Darius grunted as he felt her surprisingly soft hands dive down his pants and fish out his stiffening cock. Barda gave his length a few strokes before getting up and into his lap, his cock laid flat in between her moistening mounds.

"Just lay back and let me do the work," Barda whispered as she ground herself against his stiff tool. She shuddered as she put her hands on his shoulders to balance herself. However, the more he watched her nude form move against him, the more impatient he became.

"Sorry, Barda, but I have never been the passive type." Darius reached up and grabbed hold of her well-proportioned hips. Barda quickly caught on and reached down to grab ahold of his cock before aligning it with her entrance. With a silent nod, Darius thrust up and into her just as she dropped down onto him.

The two moaned in unison and reveled in the sensation of their coupling. Once the feeling died down, they began to move. Darius tightened his grip on Barda's hips as he moved in concert with the rolling of her hips. He groaned as the New God increased the tempo of her movements, becoming more frantic and erratic.

Not wanting to lay there idle, he reached up and cupped each breast with one hand, gripping and kneading the soft pieces of flesh, drawing a cry out of Barda. Darius could feel his climax approaching, and based on the way Barda's depths were gripping his cock, hers was too. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried out, spilling her fluids on his tool, causing him to spill his essence inside of her.

For a moment, they just laid there, Barda's sweaty body draped over Darius's own while he ran his finger up and down her back.

"That was-" Darius panted out.

"So damn good?" Barda finished for him as she caught her breath. Realizing she may be crushing her partner under her, she repositioned herself beside him. Once she did, she began to leave a trail of kisses up his neck. "Satisfied?" Darius smirked.

"Not even close, but one thing." He grabbed her, and with one quick movement, he was towering over her between her legs and dripping womanhood. "I like being on top." Barda's only response was a smirk of her own and to wrap her well-muscled legs around his waist before drawing him back inside her.

The following two hours led to two more very satisfying sessions. However, like all good things, it eventually came to an end with the couple collapsed on the bed, very exhausted, but also very relaxed. Barda found herself splayed across Darius's body, drawing circles in his chest with her finger while he, in turn, lightly stroked her lower back.

"What do you plan to do now?" Barda asked. "You told me that you are still being hunted. If you intend to hide, I can provide you shelter. My Mother Box can take you anywhere in the galaxy." He answered with a kiss on the top of her head.

"I don't intend to run. I'm going to fight," Darius answered. "Not just the organization, but the government itself. The Justice League is too blind or too weak to do anything about the corruption around them. If they won't do anything, then I will." He cupped Barda's face in his hands, lightly running his hands over her face. "I won't ask you to help me. If you want to leave, I wouldn't hold it against you." Her response was to reach down, wrap her hands around his head, and pull him down into a kiss.

"I was raised to be a warrior; the possibility of a fight doesn't scare me. You saved me from a fate worse than death. I want to repay that debt. So, what is our first move?"

Darius smiled softly at the woman's words. When he escaped, he never planned to take over this country, but the more he thought about it, the more appealing it sounded. This country was broken: off-the-books government projects, psychopaths rampaging across the country, and vigilantes too sanctimonious to do anything about it. If no one else were strong enough to fix things, then he would. "The first thing we need is an army, and I know where to start. It's time to go find an old friend."

I hope you all enjoyed this newest story. You can consider this a sister story to the fic I uploaded yesterday, Rover's Guide to Conquering the Galaxy. If any of you are curious, this chapter was based on DC's Action Comics issue 592. That is right, ladies and gentlemen, Big Barda was really brainwashed and forced to dance by Yoda's creepy uncle in the comics. I miss when DC wasn't afraid to be weird. Anyway, back on topic, the next chapter will be up next week same day. Until then, follow, favorite, and review.