"I know he's on our side and all, but that dude sure is rude." Beast Boy remarked, recollecting how Ace had spoken to NightWing. They went after Darkseid's current location, standing by just in case they could be of help.
"He may be on the same side as us in this fight, still I refuse to forget what he did to those of us who encountered him the last time." Superboy said with a serious look on his face, placed his hand where Ace had stabbed him with a knife who's blade was made of kryptonite.
"His attitude aside, he is one powerful guy." Wonder Girl said, stating the obvious as they closed in on Darkseid and Superman.
"I know people like him." Aqualad said. "He is so strong that he sees weaker people as insects." He added.
"That explains his arrogance." StarFire chipped in. While everyone shared their thoughts concerning Ace, Nightwing remained silent, he had his eyes fixed on the all out brawl Superman and Darkseid were having.
Raven remained silent, she assumed his sudden arrogance was all part of that persona and his lazy attempt at keeping the heroes at arms length.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of a shriek. They all looked up ahead to see Ace pull out a sword from Darkseid's eye.
"No way!!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
"I can hardly believe this… He actually injured Darkseid." NightWing said with his eyes open wide with surprise. The realization of Ace being on a whole different level he could not comprehend, finally set in.
"I know he's an asshole and all, but he sure is creative when causing harm to others." StarFire said as they had their eyes fixed on Ace and Superman tag team against Darkseid.
The Young heroes were spectating the fight when Miss Martian and Raven drew their attention to the other parts of the night sky.
Flocks of parademons headed their way, just when they thought the parademons had all been dealt with.
"Another wave? When does it end?" Beast Boy exasperated.
"When Darkseid is defeated." NightWing replied to him as they took their battle stance, but realized the parademons maintained a focused path rather than their usual uncoordinated movements.
The parademons were the one who had made their way into other cities, all returned to Metropolis with the aim of defending and aiding their injured lord.
"Come on, more of these guys!" Ace apathetically exclaimed as he watched them swirl around Darkseid.
"We are here to assist you, my Lord." A voice came from among the parademons as two figures lowered themselves besides Darkseid, Granny Goodness and Mantis.
Using her dark technology, Granny Goodness had fully healed herself from the fatal state Wonder Woman had left her when they fought, while Mantis just won his fight against Shazam and was still in a battered state.
"Do not interfere." Darkseid commanded with an angry growl, but Granny was somehow able to convince him to let them fulfill their roles by serving him.
"Bring me their heads." Darkseid commanded in a loud but menacing tone as he was unable to mask his fury.
"As you wish, my Lord." They replied as Darkseid backed away into the sky, looking his part as the main boss in this fight.
"You, take insect dude over there. I'll take Granny." Ace said to Superman, gesturing to them as he divided their forces.
"Look at you being all confident, I guess granny has no choice but to teach you a lesson so you would be more respectful to your elders." Granny Goodness said with a smirk tugged to the side of her lips as she took a battle stance.
"That's one creepy smile." Ace commented, looking to the air as he watched Mantis and Superman engage in their fight.
"Lesson one, always keep your eyes on the enemy right in front of you." Granny said as he closed in on him, swinging her weapon into the air.
"Um…?" Ace nonchalantly turned, averting his gaze from the light show Superman and Mantis were having, only to see Granny Goodness about to bash his head in.
He didn't bother making attempts to dodge the attack, but casually waved his finger her way.
"Ugh…!!!"
Granny exclaimed in complete bewilderment as she watched her arm fall to the floor, still holding her weapon. With a momentary delay, blood gushed out from where her limb had been severed.
She immediately withdrew, taking a few hops backwards as she created space between her and Ace. "How did you…?" Before she could completely form her question, her second arm fell to the ground.
"Like that." Ace replied, his finger still pointed at Granny as he used his other hand to cover his mouth while letting out a yawn.
Her eyes widened in befuddlement as she tried as hard as she possibly could, to prevent herself from experiencing a mental breakdown. Her fight with him had just started and he had already rendered her crippled, unable to even wield her weapon.
"Such a terrifying power in the hands of a child." She said to Ace. "Don't give me that look, even with your face covered and voice masked, I can tell you're probably in your early twenties." She added.
"Sorry granny but I don't have time to chit-chat right now, I don't know if Darkseid can heal himself or not. So I have to keep him in check until further notice." Ace replied with a complacent tone as he intensely stared up in the sky where Darkseid hovered with his parademons swirling around him.
"Don't take me so lightly boy." Granny said with an aggregated tone. "Just because I've lost my arms doesn't mean I am unable to fight." She added before going into a dash. She knew it was definitely the wrong move, but she couldn't stand him talking so casually about her Lord like they were equals.
Upon taking her fifth step forward, a line suddenly appeared across the middle section of her face, just above her upper lip as it stretched beyond both cheeks. She abruptly dropped to the ground as her head had been spliced in two.
"Well, that just leaves those pesky minions." Ace muttered as he lifted off into the air, headed for Darkseid.
He already lost interest in his fight with Darkseid, blinding the dude was a big mistake because he was taking too long to heal and fighting against a blind man would be a waste of time since he wouldn't be able to put up a good fight.
The same way Ace manipulated his deflective field, he extended a portion of it, which he compressed and morphed into the form of an invisible whip.
With the slightest wave of a finger he could launch it at an incredible speed, increasing the force as it releases a devastating power on impact. He could also make the edges so sharp that it delivers a cut so clean and quick that it takes the body tissues a few seconds before bleeding.
As he slowly made his way to Darkseid, both the parademons swirling in the air and the ones engaging the young heroes, all flew at him, repeating the same mistake the earlier ones did.
As parademons quickly closed in on him, they encircled Ace in all directions as they began their attack, with him in the middle of the swarm.
That moment he thought of repelling them but it was going to be too much of a hassle for him, he would have to kill them one after the other if they were dispersed across the sky.
From the outside it seemed like the swarm of parademons cramped on him and formed the shape of a ball, completely sealing him as they tore him apart.
Suddenly a huge gust of wind came from the ball of parademons as their body parts began to rain down to the ground, severed limb from limb and neatly diced out as they fell around Ace who hovered mid air.
"You've got to admit, that was cool." Beast Boy said as he playfully gave NightWing two elbow taps.
Just as he had done with the whip form, Ace had his deflective field form a net globe around him and launched it in a thirty meters radius around himself.
"What a bunch of useless fools." Darkseid growled as he flew towards Ace and Superman, willing to depend on his other senses as he had lost his sight.
Ace noticed Superman was having a hard time with Mantis who proved to be tougher than he looked.
Darkseid suddenly appeared next to Superman as he hit him with a blow which sent him into a distance. Mantis flew after Superman to continue their fight.
"This way ugly." Ace called out, knowing Darkseid was reliant on his senses and would attack upon the sound of his voice.
Darkseid rushed in to attack Ace, but got hit with an uppercut which sent him crashing into a media tower.
"It's locked-on and ready." Cyborg announced as he flew towards Ace with the Mother box in hand. "Then do it." Ace replied as Darkseid made his way back, throwing a heavy blow at Cyborg as he attacked blindly.
It was impossible for Cyborg to avoid but Ace was quick enough to intercept in time, deflecting Darkseid's fist as he instantly created an air vacuum around Darkseid's head, extracting every ounce of air Darkseid had in his lungs.
Ace rained down a barrage of assaults upon Darkseid who was finding it really difficult to breathe at the moment, struggling to get some air in his lungs.
Cyborg flew higher into the sky as green vein-like threads came out of his robotic arm and attached themselves to the Mother Box.
"Oh no, it's not working." Cyborg muttered as he tried connecting to the mother box but got spammed with error notifications instead. He was unable to connect with the mother box and was completely fresh out of ideas.
The fight against Darkseid and his forces had reached its climax. Both for the heroes and the inhabitants of earth, it was at its most crucial phase yet, but they've unfortunately hit a sudden snag with their plans.
Cyborg, who literally held the key to putting an end to the fight, was unable to create a connection with the mother box in order to open a series of portals which was supposed to serve as vacuums and clean the townspeople of Apokolips from the face of this world and back to theirs.
While Cyborg continued to work on a solution to bypass the issue, Ace continued to engage Darkseid.
An abrupt hit from Ace sent Darkseid crashing into a minivan which he lifted off the ground and hurled it at Ace. Maintaining his usual demeanor, the vehicle split in half upon reaching him, resulting in an explosion behind him.
Darkseid charged in, throwing a hefty blow at Ace who easily dodged it with a side step. He immediately landed a direct blow on Darkseid's solar plexus and quickly followed up with an uppercut which lifted Darkseid off the ground before suddenly appearing above him and vigorously striking Darkseid into a crated ground.
"Come on." Cyborg muttered in frustration, trying to establish a solid connection with the mother box. Suddenly, four wires emerged from the mother box, making way to his forehead as he finished establishing a connection. The fabric of space was split open as numerous portals appeared all over the city and beyond, sucking in every being from Apokalips, including the defeated commanders and the parademons.
Mantis was being pulled by the vacuum-like force from the portals, but refused to let himself get sucked away as he kept on engaging Superman in their 1v1. "Now is our chance." Superboy said as he saw Darkseid resisting the lodestone pull from the portal.
He flew at Darkseid, blasting him with his heat vision as he gave him an uppercut. Wonder Girl tossed her lasso around his leg and pulled him off balance.
Superboy flew towards him with both fists ahead of him. Just as he was about to hit him, Darkseid hit him to the ground, pulled him up, smashed him against the ground, and placed his knee upon Superboy's chest.
"I will crush you like a nut." Darkseid growled as he raised his arm into the air. As he brought it down Wonder Girl's lasso whip grabbed hold of his hand and Superman arrived at the scene after managing to send Mantis through a portal. Then he punched Darkseid off of Superboy.
"Force him through that portal." Batman instructed and hurled exploding batarangs at Darkseid as he made emphasis on the portal behind Darkseid.
Cyborg shot him with laser blasts as Beast Boy turned into a gorilla and punched Darkseid, who retaliated by grabbing Beast Boy and used him to hit Wonder Girl who was about to land a blow.
As they continued with their synchronized attacks, Darkseid was finally in position and Superman along with Superboy simultaneously punched him in the chest.
Half of his body went through the portal and he held on to the edges, refusing to get sucked away. Darkseid reached his arm to grab Raven's cloak but Ace immediately descended upon the scene, intervening as he smacked off Darkseid's hand from grabbing hold of her and delivered the final blow which sent him back to Apokolips.
"Are you okay?" Ace asked Raven, a slight hint of concern in his tone.
"Yes I am, thanks." Raven replied to him, having a nervous smile on her face as she turned away to hide her blushing cheeks from everyone while they celebrated their victory.
Regaining her composure, she turned back to Ace in an attempt to dismiss the awkwardness in the air and Indulge in a casual chat. "Am guessing you got my…" She said as she turned around, only to see Beast Boy standing behind her and with no sign of Ace.
"Got your what?" Beast Boy asked as he raised an brow. "It's nothing." She replied, taking in a deep breath and walking past Beast Boy to join up with the others, while he stared at her with a confused look on his face.
Their fight against Darkseid, the Destroyer of Worlds, had finally come to an end and it called for a celebration. Concurrently, it happened to be on the day of Christmas but unfortunately no one was feeling merry.
…
[Tom Hendricks POV]
It's been a few days since Christmas, a.k.a Darkseid's invasion. The cities were focused on rebuilding as citizens did their part in getting everyone through their loss, neighbors being there for one another as they heal, you know, all that crap.
With most of the heroes still recovering from their injuries, there's been a major increase in crime rate and the police already have their hands tied with returning order to the cities.
So trash cleaning was left to the heroes and vigilante's who didn't sustain serious injuries while fighting off the parademons.
The authorities have been in search of Lex Luthor and there's still been no sign of him, almost as if he vanished into thin air. LexCorp kept going about their business as usual, even in the absence of the CEO.
The government focused mainly on rebuilding the city of Metropolis, and after pulling a few strings as Ghost, I was able to hijack the contract and pass it on to a contractor under me. He was the CEO of a renowned construction company, and I was getting forty percent of his profits.
I guess in the near future I will dabble a little in politics, pulling the strings of the political warfare of a country sounds interesting.
"Hey Tom, are you there?" I heard Jason say from the other side of my room door, before following up with a knock on the door.
"Yeah, just a sec." I replied to him, closing my laptop's screen as I telekinetically opened up the door for him to get in.
"It's quite unusual for you to request a talk, hope all is good." I said to him, playfully squinting my eyes in suspicion. Our rooms were more like our sanctuaries, and we rarely made any intrusion.
"Nah bro, all is good. Just that you've been cooped up in your room lately, and I can only assume you've been busy." He said as he casually walked around my room, touching one thing after another.
"Yeah, I've been sorting out a few things." I replied, realizing I still haven't revealed my identity as Ghost to him. "I also notice your early hour returns from patrol." I added.
"Yeah, a lot of criminals are trying to take advantage of the current situation."
"Hope you aren't pushing yourself too hard bro, you look exhausted." I said to him, taking note of the eye bag beneath his eyes.
"No matter how many times they get busted, they just never learn. I have to do things in my own way and as hostile as I possibly can, making them fear Red Hood as much as they fear Batman." Jason replied before taking a seat on my bed.
"I noticed you seem awfully close with Selina." There it was, the actual reason he came to my room that evening.
"It's not what you're actually thinking, it's more like a casual and carefree relationship between our public identities." I nonchalantly defended, a smirk creeping across my lips as flashbacks of our time together back at that night party suddenly emerged at the back of my mind.
"What's with that look?" Jason asked, leaning closer as he looked at me with suspicion in his eyes.
"It's nothing, I just remembered something." I said in an attempt to brush him off whatever scenario he had playing up in his head.
"You two are fucking, aren't you?" He said, choosing not to beat around the bush as he went straight to his conclusion.
"I know you aren't the least concerned with my sex life, so just stop with the teasing already."
"Okay, okay… I just wanted to remind you that she has a complicated relationship with Batman, so be careful when she's around you. Don't accidentally spill confidential information while you are pillow talking after some good sex." He advised, getting up to his feet and headed for the door.
"Thanks for the advice man, but I assure you there's nothing to be worried about."
"Okay, if you say so." He replied before walking out of my room, shutting the door behind him.
Come to think of it, Selina seemed awfully intent on getting closer to me and involving herself in my personal life. Guess I have to keep a close eye on her whenever we're together.
For now I have to get back to designing both the house and company building that I am having the contractors build for me in the process of rebuilding Metropolis. I've already had my fill of Gotham City and would make another temporary move to Metropolis where I intend to create a legal company out in the light, while my business in the criminal underworld as Ghost remains in the shadows.
"Damn, I might end up becoming the next Lex Luthor."