—Wayne Manor—
“Why are we just walking up to Wayne Manor?! Should we not scope the area out first or take a different entrance inside?”, Ciri asked looking at the abandoned building, “The enemy is sure to have an ambush waiting for anyone who shows up here.”
“Haha, there is an ambush waiting for us.”, I remarked with a smirk, “There are about twenty enemies inside the house and ten more down in the Batcave. Fortunately, there is a cemetery nearby…because we are going to need one when I am done with them. Also, take this so you can help me deal with the riff-raff.”
Taking a Magic Crossbow out of my storage, I tossed it to Ciri and told her to pick off Parademons with it. Asking me where the bolts were, I advised that the ammo was made of pure magic and would manifest when the unit was primed. Testing it out for herself, magic runes began to glow on the side of the weapon as the string reached maximum tension.
“Those runes are how you select the type of arrow you want.”, I informed her pointing to them, “They go in order of Fire, Ice, Lightning, Psychic, Poison, Holy, and Demonic. I would have added more but there was not a lot of space to carve more in.”
Tapping on the Holy Rune, a golden arrow appeared notched and ready to fly. Looking at the weapon with childlike fascination, she asked if she could keep it for future use after today. Nodding my head in agreement, it made sense for her to have it as she did not have very good ranged combat abilities at the moment.
“Be warned, the magic it uses to create the bolt will come from your mana pool.”, I cautioned her, “Overuse will cause you to pass out from exhaustion, and make you easy pickings for your foes.”
“If that is the only drawback, it should not be a big problem for me. I have an enormous mana pool to draw from.”, Ciri boasted with pride.
“I hate to burst your bubble Ciri, but you are slightly below average in mana capacity.”, I said bringing her back to reality, “While you certainly have an enormous pool of mana in your world, there are plenty of monstrous people out there that make your pool look like a puddle. Never underestimate your opponent, it could get you killed.”
“...kill joy.”, Ciri sighed with disappointment, “I will be careful, give me a moment to take up a position on the outskirts of the property. Once I am in position, look for my signal.”
Running off before I could ask what that signal would be, I watched her crawl into some shrubbery and situate herself. Watching her fight with the shrubs to get into a good spot, she inadvertently caused the plants to shake around signaling to anyone watching where she was. Luckily for her, none of the enemies were near a window so no one saw her. Giving her a few moments to get comfortable, she stuck her hand out and flipped me the bird.
‘I feel sorry for the poor fool that ends up marrying that woman.’, I thought as I gathered ionic energy in my arms.
Once an equally sufficient charge had built up in the atmosphere overhead, I swung my arms down and brought a massive bolt of lightning down on the residence. Superheating the air and anything in its path, a series of explosions followed the lightning as it tore straight through the home. Listening to the Parademons shriek in pain, the few that did not die instantly were shot by Ciri within in moments. Hitting them square in the foreheads, the Parademons turned into particles of light and dispersed into the atmosphere.
Hearing the loud explosions and crash of thunder overhead, the enemies down in the Batcave began to move. Instead of rushing to one of Bruce’s many exits, one of them decided to take a more direct approach. Feeling the ground begin to quake beneath my feet, an enemy combatant launched themself through the roof of the cave and up toward me. Erupting out of the ground with a grin on her face, one of Darkseid’s Furies, Stompa, made her grand appearance.
“It is about time you showed up, I was getting bored!”, she laughed from the air with excitement as she hung in the air for a moment, “Wait, I have not seen your face in any of the reports. Who the hell are you!?”
Having reached the peak of her jump, Stompa angled herself downward and braced herself for impact. Recalling that one of her abilities was Earthquake Generation, I knew I could not let her hit the ground. An earthquake here would not only level Gothom, it would also bring down the barebone buildings in Metropolis. Racing toward to intercept her, the remaining enemies flew out of the hole she created and blindly charged me.
“Out of my way pests!”, I spat generating several projections of myself, “You are in my way!”
Sending them out ahead of me, the projections slammed into the Parademons and exploded sending bits of them everywhere. Watching her troops get blown to bits, Stompa’s expression changed drastically. Used to the Leaguers sparing the Parademons, she was momentarily taken aback by my actions.
“What did you just do to them!? Heroes like you do not kill people!!”, she shouted at me as her descent speed increased.
“Do not hold me to the same standard as the Justice League, I am not as naive as them.”, I remarked creating an ice spike beneath my feet to launch myself at her, “Unlike them, I am not above putting a dog like you six feet under!”
Believing my words as I hit her with Killing Intent, Stompa swung her fist at me out of instinct. Turning myself into smoke, I glided around her body and reformed directly behind her. Spinning around using my Ion Thruster for extra momentum, my right heel slammed into the back of her skull sending her careening into the ground. Generating a dust cloud as a crater formed beneath her, I blew it all away with a wave of my hand as I touched down.
Watching her body violently spasm around in the crater I created, Stompa was foaming at the mouth. Realizing that I had overdone it, I used Healing Magic to bring her back to her senses as I teleported in front of her. Still unable to move properly, the Fury looked up at me in anger.
“If you do not finish me here, I will find everyone you care about and kill them!!”, Stompa threatened me using typical Apokolypian tactics.
“Haha, here I was going to use just Ice and Lightning to interrogate you, but now you went and did it.”, I laughed with a cruel smile, “You Apokolypians need to learn your manners when speaking to your better. A New God you may claim to be, but all I see is a poor soul that does not understand what real pain is.”
Pulling chunks of concrete rubble over to me, I reformed them using my Concrete Powers. Sending them straight into her legs, at first she laughed at my attempts to harm her, but that quickly changed as they burrowed into her skin. Feeling them hammer away at her nerves and bones, she began to grind her teeth together trying to bear the pain.
“Answer my question and I will make your death quick.”, I offered her knowing that the pain she was feeling would have knocked a human out by now, “How about it?”
“Fuck…you…”, she seethed trying to keep it together.
“So be it.”, I said forcing the concrete to start expanding throughout her legs.
Watching flesh turn to stone, the process was by no means painless. Turning only flesh into stone, her nerves were trapped in the concrete as it ground them into oblivion. Slowly working its way up her thigh, it eventually reached one of the most painful nerves in a humanoid body. As soon as the concrete made contact with the nerve, her resistance shattered.
“STOP IT!!!”, she pleaded as tears and snot started to come out, “I BEG YOU, HAVE MERCY!!!”
“After the countless number of lives you have taken, you beg for mercy now!?”, I spat placing my boot on the back of her head, “How many people have you put in this exact position, and listened to their pleas for mercy! Mercy is for those that deserve it, and you do not!!”
Forcing the conversion process to speed up, Stompa began shaking violently as her body went into shock. Unfortunately for her, the nerve in question was unique in that it would not allow her to faint or be rendered unconscious. Watching me torture her, Ciri got out of her cover and came running over to me. Taking her ring off, she pleaded with me to just get the information we needed and end this.
“There is no need to extend her torment!”, Ciri argued.
“Have you seen the sense slaughter of millions of innocent people, Ciri?”, I asked her, “Have you heard their cries for help, seen their petrified faces, or smelled the fear they radiate? Anyone who can revel in that deserves only the worst torture imaginable! This Fury has killed billions upon billions of people while dancing on their anguish and suffering. It is only fitting that she gets a taste of her own medicine before I end her miserable life.”
Looking down at Stompa, instead of fear or remorse in her eyes, the only thing she saw was anger and hatred. Seeing the eyes of a cold-blooded, genocidal maniac looking back at her, Ciri backed away and let me finish what I started.
“Tell me now, do you have any Leaguers in your prisons on Apokolips?”, I demanded of her.
“Yes, we have…several of their members!!”, Stompa immediately replied, “Lord Darkseid, forgive-”
Crushing her brain stem with my heel, the Fury died instantly without another sound. Pulling my Grim Reaper’s Scythe out, I flicked it around and jammed it into her soul before she could escape to Heaven for judgment.
“I will save everyone a lot of time and send you straight to the bottom of Hell!”, I said as the Gates of Hell appeared next to me.
Throwing her soul at it, the Gate sprung to life like a Mimic and consumed her soul before disappearing again. Stowing the scythe back in storage, Ciri asked me where I gained the power to damn people to Hell.
“It is a unique ability I gained during my time as a Demon King.”, I chuckled as I scoped her up in my arms, “I can tell you all about it later, for now, let us get below and see if Batman’s supercomputer is still functional.”
Leaping down the hole that Stompa created, we descended into the Batcave hoping to find answers for where the League went.
—Wayne Manor—
“Why are we just walking up to Wayne Manor?! Should we not scope the area out first or take a different entrance inside?”, Ciri asked looking at the abandoned building, “The enemy is sure to have an ambush waiting for anyone who shows up here.”
“Haha, there is an ambush waiting for us.”, I remarked with a smirk, “There are about twenty enemies inside the house and ten more down in the Batcave. Fortunately, there is a cemetery nearby…because we are going to need one when I am done with them. Also, take this so you can help me deal with the riff-raff.”
Taking a Magic Crossbow out of my storage, I tossed it to Ciri and told her to pick off Parademons with it. Asking me where the bolts were, I advised that the ammo was made of pure magic and would manifest when the unit was primed. Testing it out for herself, magic runes began to glow on the side of the weapon as the string reached maximum tension.
“Those runes are how you select the type of arrow you want.”, I informed her pointing to them, “They go in order of Fire, Ice, Lightning, Psychic, Poison, Holy, and Demonic. I would have added more but there was not a lot of space to carve more in.”
Tapping on the Holy Rune, a golden arrow appeared notched and ready to fly. Looking at the weapon with childlike fascination, she asked if she could keep it for future use after today. Nodding my head in agreement, it made sense for her to have it as she did not have very good ranged combat abilities at the moment.
“Be warned, the magic it uses to create the bolt will come from your mana pool.”, I cautioned her, “Overuse will cause you to pass out from exhaustion, and make you easy pickings for your foes.”
“If that is the only drawback, it should not be a big problem for me. I have an enormous mana pool to draw from.”, Ciri boasted with pride.
“I hate to burst your bubble Ciri, but you are slightly below average in mana capacity.”, I said bringing her back to reality, “While you certainly have an enormous pool of mana in your world, there are plenty of monstrous people out there that make your pool look like a puddle. Never underestimate your opponent, it could get you killed.”
“...kill joy.”, Ciri sighed with disappointment, “I will be careful, give me a moment to take up a position on the outskirts of the property. Once I am in position, look for my signal.”
Running off before I could ask what that signal would be, I watched her crawl into some shrubbery and situate herself. Watching her fight with the shrubs to get into a good spot, she inadvertently caused the plants to shake around signaling to anyone watching where she was. Luckily for her, none of the enemies were near a window so no one saw her. Giving her a few moments to get comfortable, she stuck her hand out and flipped me the bird.
‘I feel sorry for the poor fool that ends up marrying that woman.’, I thought as I gathered ionic energy in my arms.
Once an equally sufficient charge had built up in the atmosphere overhead, I swung my arms down and brought a massive bolt of lightning down on the residence. Superheating the air and anything in its path, a series of explosions followed the lightning as it tore straight through the home. Listening to the Parademons shriek in pain, the few that did not die instantly were shot by Ciri within in moments. Hitting them square in the foreheads, the Parademons turned into particles of light and dispersed into the atmosphere.
Hearing the loud explosions and crash of thunder overhead, the enemies down in the Batcave began to move. Instead of rushing to one of Bruce’s many exits, one of them decided to take a more direct approach. Feeling the ground begin to quake beneath my feet, an enemy combatant launched themself through the roof of the cave and up toward me. Erupting out of the ground with a grin on her face, one of Darkseid’s Furies, Stompa, made her grand appearance.
“It is about time you showed up, I was getting bored!”, she laughed from the air with excitement as she hung in the air for a moment, “Wait, I have not seen your face in any of the reports. Who the hell are you!?”
Having reached the peak of her jump, Stompa angled herself downward and braced herself for impact. Recalling that one of her abilities was Earthquake Generation, I knew I could not let her hit the ground. An earthquake here would not only level Gothom, it would also bring down the barebone buildings in Metropolis. Racing toward to intercept her, the remaining enemies flew out of the hole she created and blindly charged me.
“Out of my way pests!”, I spat generating several projections of myself, “You are in my way!”
Sending them out ahead of me, the projections slammed into the Parademons and exploded sending bits of them everywhere. Watching her troops get blown to bits, Stompa’s expression changed drastically. Used to the Leaguers sparing the Parademons, she was momentarily taken aback by my actions.
“What did you just do to them!? Heroes like you do not kill people!!”, she shouted at me as her descent speed increased.
“Do not hold me to the same standard as the Justice League, I am not as naive as them.”, I remarked creating an ice spike beneath my feet to launch myself at her, “Unlike them, I am not above putting a dog like you six feet under!”
Believing my words as I hit her with Killing Intent, Stompa swung her fist at me out of instinct. Turning myself into smoke, I glided around her body and reformed directly behind her. Spinning around using my Ion Thruster for extra momentum, my right heel slammed into the back of her skull sending her careening into the ground. Generating a dust cloud as a crater formed beneath her, I blew it all away with a wave of my hand as I touched down.
Watching her body violently spasm around in the crater I created, Stompa was foaming at the mouth. Realizing that I had overdone it, I used Healing Magic to bring her back to her senses as I teleported in front of her. Still unable to move properly, the Fury looked up at me in anger.
“If you do not finish me here, I will find everyone you care about and kill them!!”, Stompa threatened me using typical Apokolypian tactics.
“Haha, here I was going to use just Ice and Lightning to interrogate you, but now you went and did it.”, I laughed with a cruel smile, “You Apokolypians need to learn your manners when speaking to your better. A New God you may claim to be, but all I see is a poor soul that does not understand what real pain is.”
Pulling chunks of concrete rubble over to me, I reformed them using my Concrete Powers. Sending them straight into her legs, at first she laughed at my attempts to harm her, but that quickly changed as they burrowed into her skin. Feeling them hammer away at her nerves and bones, she began to grind her teeth together trying to bear the pain.
“Answer my question and I will make your death quick.”, I offered her knowing that the pain she was feeling would have knocked a human out by now, “How about it?”
“Fuck…you…”, she seethed trying to keep it together.
“So be it.”, I said forcing the concrete to start expanding throughout her legs.
Watching flesh turn to stone, the process was by no means painless. Turning only flesh into stone, her nerves were trapped in the concrete as it ground them into oblivion. Slowly working its way up her thigh, it eventually reached one of the most painful nerves in a humanoid body. As soon as the concrete made contact with the nerve, her resistance shattered.
“STOP IT!!!”, she pleaded as tears and snot started to come out, “I BEG YOU, HAVE MERCY!!!”
“After the countless number of lives you have taken, you beg for mercy now!?”, I spat placing my boot on the back of her head, “How many people have you put in this exact position, and listened to their pleas for mercy! Mercy is for those that deserve it, and you do not!!”
Forcing the conversion process to speed up, Stompa began shaking violently as her body went into shock. Unfortunately for her, the nerve in question was unique in that it would not allow her to faint or be rendered unconscious. Watching me torture her, Ciri got out of her cover and came running over to me. Taking her ring off, she pleaded with me to just get the information we needed and end this.
“There is no need to extend her torment!”, Ciri argued.
“Have you seen the sense slaughter of millions of innocent people, Ciri?”, I asked her, “Have you heard their cries for help, seen their petrified faces, or smelled the fear they radiate? Anyone who can revel in that deserves only the worst torture imaginable! This Fury has killed billions upon billions of people while dancing on their anguish and suffering. It is only fitting that she gets a taste of her own medicine before I end her miserable life.”
Looking down at Stompa, instead of fear or remorse in her eyes, the only thing she saw was anger and hatred. Seeing the eyes of a cold-blooded, genocidal maniac looking back at her, Ciri backed away and let me finish what I started.
“Tell me now, do you have any Leaguers in your prisons on Apokolips?”, I demanded of her.
“Yes, we have…several of their members!!”, Stompa immediately replied, “Lord Darkseid, forgive-”
Crushing her brain stem with my heel, the Fury died instantly without another sound. Pulling my Grim Reaper’s Scythe out, I flicked it around and jammed it into her soul before she could escape to Heaven for judgment.
“I will save everyone a lot of time and send you straight to the bottom of Hell!”, I said as the Gates of Hell appeared next to me.
Throwing her soul at it, the Gate sprung to life like a Mimic and consumed her soul before disappearing again. Stowing the scythe back in storage, Ciri asked me where I gained the power to damn people to Hell.
“It is a unique ability I gained during my time as a Demon King.”, I chuckled as I scoped her up in my arms, “I can tell you all about it later, for now, let us get below and see if Batman’s supercomputer is still functional.”
Leaping down the hole that Stompa created, we descended into the Batcave hoping to find answers for where the League went.
