21

"... 'Ultraman' wants you 'safe'."

There was pure vitriol in Selina's voice. I needed to follow behind her. As I released Orion's headless body, I found myself surrounded by several of her men. Half-naked and armed with guns and knives, I was almost offended by her attempt to stop me.

"Sorry about the mess…" I said with a smirk.

Selina's men didn't reply. I reached out to J'onzz through our mind link.

"Is he here?"

J'onzz nodded, "But I can't locate him, his mind is cloudy..."

One of her men came charging toward me with a blade.

"Stop Selina," I ordered.

J'onzz rushed down the hall following behind Selina as I ducked the man with the blade. Whirling behind him, I blasted him in the back of his head, killing him instantly. His lifeless body oozed to the ground as a pile of ash. The rest of Selina's men around me took a step back.

"Stand down and you won't end up like this fool,"

I pointed down to the pile of ash. A few of the men muttered to themselves. Weighing their options as if they had one.

"What's in it for us?"

I looked over to Selina's top bodyguard, Ollie, who had taken a step forward from the rest of the crowd. He wanted out from under Selina's titan grasp. Whether the Canary did, didn't matter, he wanted out. Though I owned the building, the Cat's Den was Bruce and Selina's brainchild from Gotham. I had a bargaining chip to play, loosening Bruce's hold on my assets.

"You want to leave this place with your little birdie, don't you?"

Ollie raised his eyebrow.

"Don't listen to him..." one of the men behind Ollie said.

"I am a generous man to those who serve me and my cause," I continued. "Walk away now and I'll extend an invitation to you to join me directly. You and your little birdie will have a safe place under my roof and the power that it entails..."

Ollie lowered his gun. The men behind him looked shocked.

"Traitor…" one of the men shouted.

Ollie swiftly shot the man in the face without looking back.

"Well then, let the fun begin…"

Ollie slipped another round into the barrel of his gun as the men behind him rushed us. The first man that reached me, I grabbed hold of his arm. Ripping it out of its socket, arm still in hand, I cracked the skull open of the man behind him. Ollie was head-shooting men left and right. While I ripped Selina's men, limb from limb. After a few moments, we were surrounded by a pile of broken bodies and blood.

"We make a pretty good team…" Ollie started to say, but I was already running down the hall.

After a few seconds, I was standing behind Selina. She had slammed the door to her office. I could hear the Amazon screaming from the other side. Rage filled me.

"Selina!" I bellowed.

She reached for her gun and turned to face me. She shot three rounds into my shoulder. Ping, ping, ping. They bounced off my body, ricocheting into the walls around us.

"DIE"

"You first,"

I unleashed hellfire from my eyes into her face. She barely made a sound as her flesh melted. Even the walls around us were singed. Rushing through her burnt body, I slammed into the door. It didn't budge. Suddenly, a rumble of thunder emanated from inside the room. I needed to get inside.

I rammed into the door a few times to no avail. Bruce's doing, for sure. He wanted to keep his whore safe from me. Sadly, it didn't work. It, however, was going to get the Amazon taken. Where was J'onzz?

"J'onzz... J'onzz…" I called out.

His absence frustrated me. He should have been here by now.

"Where the hell are you..."

Crackdoom…. Thunder clapped once more from inside Selina's office.

"She's doing that,"

I heard J'onzz's voice beside me. Out of the corner of my eye he phased into view.

"What are you talking about, you green bastard?" I hissed. "Why are you just getting here?"

Crackdoom….

"Oh, I've been here," J'onzz said as he pointed up to the heavens. "I've been observing her..."

J'onzz looked at me with a gleam of wonderment in his eyes.

"...She's causing it, the thunder. I knew she was powerful but this is fascinating…"

"Fuck your fascinations, J'onzz!" I snapped

J'onzz rolled his eyes as he pointed to the right of the door in front of us.

"I'd blast over here," he said. "He's got her pressed up against the door…."

I tried to look through the door, but it was made of lead. I was able to make out two figures. One was smaller with their back to the door, the other was taller, broader. It was caressing the smaller figure's body.

"Mine…" I thought.

Everything after that was a blur. I blew a hole through the wall where J'onzz told me to. Stepping through the hole, I saw Darkseid on the far side of the room smoking. Scowling at his knelt burnt form, I felt a gentle touch.

"Diana,"

I looked down at her, the Amazon. She was trembling. I reached out and pulled her into my arms.

"I've got you,"

She wrapped her arms around me.

Darkseid's laughter filled the room, from the far side.

"... And so, we finally meet Kryptonian…"

I held onto the Amazon tightly as I watched Darkseid stand to his feet.

"So, we have," I growled. "I'm asking you to leave my establishment before you lose more than your worthless son tonight…"

"Oh, him," Darkseid laughed. "You have done me a favor, Kryptonian. I'm sure my lord will give me a better one as soon as I deliver him his prize…"

A growl left my lips so loud that it shook the walls of the club.

"As I told your son, she's mine," I hissed. "If your 'lord' wants her, he'll have to go through me…"

Darkseid raised his eyebrow, amused at my declaration. I looked not at him as my target, but the man above him and he knew it. He bit his tongue as he tilted his head to the side as if he was listening to someone.

After a few moments, he turned his attention back to us.

"My lord Apollo sends you his greetings, Diana," Darkseid called out.

I boiled with rage as Darkseid bowed before a massive portal opened behind him.

"He says, 'Till we meet beloved'…"

The coward ran. The Amazon buried her face into my chest as Darkseid's boomtube collapsed.

"I'm sorry," she muttered softly. "I didn't mean for…"

The way she buried her face into my chest made my heart tighten. I placed my massive blood-stained hand on the back of her head.

"He would have come no matter what happened here," I replied.

"The gods are dangerous," she continued, ignoring my words. "I've already put you and your people in danger. I need to leave before they hurt anyone else."

She couldn't believe this wasn't all her fault. Darkseid and, indirectly, Apollo had been keeping tabs on me since I came onto the crime scene. Her being here just gave them a valid reason to confront me directly.

"... I have to go back home…."

Her voice squeaked out from my chest.

"Are they still there, the Amazons?"

J'onzz replied, "Yup... the Furies only killed a few..."

I smirked, "Good,"

I wanted the pleasure of killing her mother personally. Anyone who harmed her would pay with their lives.

I let out a deep sigh, "He has destroyed your home, Diana…"

"What?"

"Your mother and sisters are dead," I lied. "He killed them all…"

"By Gaia," she cried.

Her soft tears burned a trail down my chest. I hated lying to her, but it served a purpose. Darkseid and Apollo would be watching me more carefully from now on. Wiping out an entire island of people sends a clear message. I am not to be fucked with.

"I said this was your home now," I said. "We are your family now. And I always look out for my family."

The Amazon let out a long deep sob as she crumpled to her knees. I caught her in my arms, holding her up against me. I needed to get her away from this mess.

"Prep the car," I ordered J'onzz. "I'm taking her back home…"

J'onzz didn't reply. He knew I'd just lied to her and was displeased. I waited for him to invade my mind with something smart to say. A part of me wanted him to. I felt a little sick as the Amazon cried into her hands. J'onzz watched my face before turning away from us.

"Make sure she never finds out it was 'you' who took all she knows away from her," he said before leaving for Arthur outside.

"Amazon," I called out.

A bad taste filled my mouth as I called her out of her name. I needed to create some distance between us. Her cries made my heartache. They were a weakness and I couldn't have one at this moment. I was at war. Weakness got men killed and I wasn't planning on dying anytime soon.

"Amazon," I called out once more.

She still didn't respond. She seemed to be lost in a trance.

"I should have gone home," she muttered as she looked up to face me.

Her eyes were red from her tears. What little was left of my heart broke as her eyes met mine.

"If I had, my mother might still be…"

My hand moved on its own and cupped her face. I pulled her gaze to mine. A lone tear slid onto my thumb as I brushed it away.

"He would have taken you to Apollo and still killed them,"

"You don't know that…" she snapped back.

I looked into her face and saw my flames still seeping from my eye in my reflection in

her eyes.

"Oh, but I do," I replied. "That's what men like us do. We don't leave anyone alive…"

"But you aren't like him…" she said.

I laughed. If she only knew.

"Boss…" I heard Arthur call me over the com.

"We're on our way out now," I said.

"Do you want Barry to send over the clean-up crew?" he asked.

"Don't bother…" I said.

Arthur paused for a moment, "You sure about that? Ollie said you left a bit of a mess…"

"I said don't bother," I said, doubling down on my harsh tone. "I'll handle it."

"... You're the boss," he replied.

Arthur closed the com. Alone with the Amazon; I picked her up in my arms.

"Come on," I said coldly.

She looked up at me at a loss for words as I picked her up with ease. Walking through the hole I burnt through the wall, Diana looked down to a pile of ash.

"Selina…"

Diana was staring at the ashen remains of Selina still burning on the floor. Her eyes

traveled up to my face. Her bright blue eyes grew wide as she realized what I'd done.

"She betrayed me,"

The Amazon's gaze still lingered on Selina's corpse as I carried her down the corridor. She muttered a prayer of some sort. Why she wasted one on Selina, I'd never know. As we walked to the entrance, I felt her tighten her grip around my neck. The sight of all the blood and bodies must have gotten to her.

I fought the urge to tell her not to look but as with Selina's body, she needed to see that I was dangerous. By the time we reached the entrance of the club, Barry and Hal were waiting for us with a grenade in hand.

"Big blue…" Barry said with a smirk.

I nodded as I walked past them.

"And I didn't think that he'd let us try these out…" Hal said.

I opened the car door and placed the Amazon inside. With a grunt at the boys, I closed the car's door.

"Bye, bye putty cat," Hal mocked.

He tossed the green glowing grenade in his hand into the front door of the Cat's Den.

BOOM!

I watched as the green flames gradually overtook the building. A part of me knew Bruce wouldn't be pissed that I killed one of his playthings. The moment I told him about her trying to give away a good meal, he would probably kill her himself. Eating her from the inside out. Even Joker understood to never mess with one of his fixations.

Ring, ring

"Is she dead?" I heard Bruce's voice ask through the phone.

"Very much so,"

"Darkseid?"

"I did it,"

Bruce went silent for a moment.

"Did he take the Amazon with him when he left?" he continued.

"No," I growled.

"I see," Bruce replied.

He was relieved she wasn't taken, for selfish reasons of course. I could tell from the tone of his voice.

"Well then I guess I've got a war to plan for," he added with a hint of glee. "Should I call your wife?"

I looked behind me to see the Amazon still crying through the car window.

"Of course not," I replied. "She's a liability and useless to us."

"And the Amazon is not?"

I immediately hung up the phone on him. Getting into the car, I looked at the Amazon in the rearview mirror. She had calmed slightly.

"We'll be home soon," I said.

Reaching back to touch her, my hand landed on her thigh. She looked up at me with her large doe eyes.

"Can I stay with you?" she asked. "I don't want to be alone..."

I was taken aback by her inquiry. She still wanted to be near me after seeing what I'd done. All the bodies. All the destruction. Had I not shown her enough of the danger my presence caused?

"Of course," I replied.

My heart fluttered. She was my weakness. A weakness I needed to bring under control.