The blue-green orb floated in the midst of the unending void, it’s only companion a dusty gray sphere orbiting listlessly around it. The planet’s current orbit took it far away from its nearest interstellar neighbours, so that they could scarcely be seen from the orb’s surface. Here though, in the depths of space above it, all the solar system was visible save that currently nestled on the other side of the star designated as Sol, named the “Sun” by the world's inhabitants.
For them, this was the final frontier, the ultimate obstacle to their continued expansion. For others, it was no obstacle at all. Eighty orbits of Sol ago, the idea of travelling into space had been a dream. Even now, the inhabitants of this insignificant speck could travel to other worlds only in their imagination. To the people of this planet, the idea of those who could cross the cosmos in seconds, who could create interstellar bridges to warp them across space itself, who could leap across unfathomable distances without second thought, was a fairy tale- those who could do it were legendary figures of myth and dreams- they were like gods.
And sometimes…
Sometimes they were.
BOOMWith a single cosmic rumbling, a golden tunnel of light materialised from nowhere five hundred thousand kilometres above the blue planet’s surface. In theory, the laws of physics stated that sound could not travel in a vacuum like space, but such mundane laws were useful only to those limited, as the beings below were, in their perceptions and their senses of dimension. Thus it was that surreptitiously, without ceremony, Orion and Lightray arrived above Earth.
* * *
With a clash, the metal rod slapped down the lashing tongue of the whip. There was a pause, then the whip darted forwards again, only to become entangled around the other weapon.
With a snarl, Barda drew back her Mega Rod, circling her opponent slowly. She ignored the pain of the cut on her arm- she had cut her foe too, and deeper.
When will the fools learn that I am more than a match for any of them? Her eyes narrowed and she feinted to the left- immediately the whip cracked in that direction, but Barda at once moved to the right and brought the Mega Rod up. Just in time, the whip swung back to intercept her blow, but it was close, and her foe stumbled backwards.
With silent triumph, Barda moved to press her advantage, but then she heard a tremendous grunt and out of the corner of her eye, saw another combatant leap to join the battle. Completely against the rules they had set, of course, but that was to be expected- her foes here were treacherous, after all. The newcomer smashed her foot onto the ground with a tremendous stop which shook the room, causing a tremor to erupt in the ground beneath their foot, but Barda rolled to the side with contemptuous ease, coming up at once.
Her first foe was leaping at her, whip snapping around in mid-air, but Barda simply raised her mega-rod until the weapon cracked on it, winding it’s way around her weapon and pulling her foe towards her. Her first foe realised what she was doing and brought up her other hand to defend herself against a hit from Barda’s free hand. Instead, the captain of the Furies just ducked. The colossal fist of the second warrior rushed into the space where her head had been and with a smash, impacted her first foe in the face, knocking her to the ground. For her part, Barda then reversed the Mega Rod under her armpit, aiming upwards, to crash deeply into her second foe’s stomach. That enemy then made a huge grunt like a wounded animal and collapsed.
Barda stood over her two fallen foes with thinly masked contempt.
“You still have much to learn, Stompa,” she addressed the colossal orange-clad female who had been the second attacker. “And, despite what you may think, so do you…. Lashina,” she turned to the first. For her part, Lashina was rubbing her jaw and snarling. She was clad, as always, in the black leather output which clung tightly to her exquisite curves, and by way of reply, her hand tightened around her whip.
“Bravo, Barda,” came a slow, high pitched female voice, along with a sarcastic, steady clapping of hands. “As ever, your ability to win these non-lethal skirmishes astounds us all.” Barda did not allow her face to change from it’s impassive expression, but her grip on the Mega Rod clenched. Bernadeth. Where Barda was the field Captain of the Furies, Bernadeth was the sister of the master torturer, the sadistic Desaad, and that position made her the only one of the Furies Barda could not always command.
“What news do you bring, Bernadeth?” she snapped in response, not turning.
“New orders, Captain. Granny wished to give them to you herself, but they’re rather urgent and she has much work to do…” It was clear Bernadeth was enjoying the rare times when she was more entrusted than Barda with information. Initially, Barda found no conflict with any of them, working alongside them, albeit with less relish. But once she had been promoted to their commander, they had all turned on her at once, each of them desperate to usurp her and seize control, all of them determined to undermine her. It was not due to her more merciful nature, she had learnt- no, they were treacherous dogs who would sell their own mothers-
though not their own Granny, she mused- for self-advancement.
“And the orders are?” she asked after a moment.
“It seems you’re to be transferred back to the
prisons,” Bernadeth informed her, enjoying every word. “Granny knows your tour there ended when you prevented the
Free urchin’s escape last week, but it seems they’re expecting new prisoners and they want you to be there.” Bernadeth paused, eyes twinkling with malice. “Oh, and Granny can’t bear the thought of the new prisoners seeing the
Free boy in his current state, so she wants you to go too, Lashina. To help… clean him up.”
Barda’s eyes narrowed. So, she was to be sent back to the prisons, to meet the enigmatic Scott Free once again. Why was it he seemed to plague her thoughts so much recently? He was a riddle, unpredictable, uncontrollable- and on Apokolips, what one could not control should always be destroyed.
“It would… be a pleasure,” Lashina responded, with a sweet smile, and as she did, she licked her lips ever so slightly, cocked her head and her whip twitched in her hand. And for no reason at all that she could discern, at that moment Barda felt a slight shudder of pity for Scott Free.
* * *
Silence, as ever, reigned over Earth, as Orion and Lightray floated in the depths of the void.
“We’re sure they’re not already here?” Lightray asked for the third time, eyes still keenly scanning space around them.
“If they were, we would know it.” Orion replied shortly. “Metron said Darkseid himself will come for the Anti-Life Equation. And Mother Box would sense if such evil were nearby.”
“Perhaps,” persisted Lightray. “But Metron could have been wrong. Earth is a minuscule world, and we’ll know if they Boom Tube into the surrounding sector, but if they show up underwater or in a mountain somewhere below….”
Orion paused for a moment- that was a perplexing question, and one he had not thought of. Fortunately, he was spared the need to answer as Mother Box chimed in.
“Warning, energy signals detec….”BOOMThe Evil Gods had come.
* * *
The echo of the thunderous sound could be heard across the entire sector by those with ears to hear it, and at once, Orion and Lightray’s heads shot up and they began scanning around them rapidly.
“Not on this side of the planet,” Orion spat. “They must have boomed in on the other side, or…”
“Negative”, Mother Box pointed out softly.
“Gods are on this side of the planet and rapidly approaching.”“Orion!” shouted Lightray. “I think I know… realspace! We’re looking at it in realspace terms!”
“What?” Orion fired back in reply, head rapidly turning from side to side as he desperately sought any sign of the intruders.
“ Remember, we’re gods, we need to stop thinking like mortals. If Darkseid’s here…”
“…Then he can warp reality and approach Earth in five dimensions so that they never see him coming…” he murmured. “Of course…”
“Mother Box!” he shouted. “Can you…” Even before he had finished the sentence, space seemed to ripple before his eyes and then it flared up again, just as it had been- but now he could see dozens, even hundreds of Parademons floating before him- too many for the stealth force they had expected, but too few for an invasion. And with them was-
“…Steppenwolf…” snarled Lightray, of the malignant Apokoliptian general atop his hover-bike. “…It’s a trap…”
“Take them,” the evil god ordered his minions, a cruel smile on his face. “Let the hunt begin.”
* * *
“Indeed, children!” Highfather nodded, a strained smile on his face in place of his customary gentle fondness. “The pact ensures peace in our time, no matter what else may happen, so you have no need to fear.”
“But Highfather,” protested one of the smallest children- a boy hardly more than a decade or two old named Ajax. “What about the ships that have been destroyed-?”
“Peace, Ajax,” responded the elder god, raising a hand. “Let us not speak of such things. We must return to your lessons.” Inside, Highfather’s mood was even more grim than his appearance suggested. He cast a glance upwards out of the corner of his eye. There was a mist in the air this day, which added a chill to the normally perfect climate of the paradise world. Normally, Supertown hovered above the weather patterns, but today the clouds were gathering higher than normal, and they were thick clouds- black clouds. And that was never a good sign.
“Highfather!” came a deep-voiced cry. With a start, he returned to the present- but it was not one of the children who had called him. Instead, it was the golden clad form of Magnar, the warrior defender of Supertown, making his way through the Sky-Garden towards him. “Highfather! There is an urgent message for you.”
“Is it the Source Wall?” asked weary Highfather.
“No, sire, but…”
“Then it can wait,” he responded. “There is nothing more important than tending to our young, and…”
“Highfather, please, it’s…” Magnar paused, seeming to steel himself. “It’s…” He nearly choked out the fatal word. “…Darkseid…”
For a single second, there was silence. Then the children, almost as one, began to cry- Ajax gave a cry and tried to hide himself with his hands, and the others wailed. And it seemed to Highfather as though the dark clouds above grew darker, and the chill wind and mist grew just a little more piercing at the mere sound of the name.
“You’ve upset the children. Take care of them,” he said curtly, and started towards the citadel at once. Ordinarily of course, there was nothing more important than the youths but this was not ordinary. The Father of Apokolips did not contact his interstellar brethren lightly- and never once was it for a good reason. Highfather suspected he knew exactly what that reason might be…
* * *
“Orion!” roared Steppenwolf, waving his battle blade. “Take him swiftly! I don’t want him putting up too much of a fight!”
“They really don’t know you,” remarked Lightray, expression grim, fists glowing with energy.
“I’m the last think they will know,” retorted Orion, fists clenched tightly around his Astro-Harness. “Enough of this!”
With a roar, he charged towards the mass of foes, heedless of their superior numbers, firing off bolts of energy from his harness. Lightray had vanished from behind him, using his superior speed to dart away so fast that even the eyes of a god found it difficult to track him.
The split second before Orion made contact with the mass of demons, there was a whooshing noise and a golden light zipped through them, and with startled cries a few demons vanished in its wake. Undeterred, the rest of the mindless horde continued, and Orion was eager to meet them.
The first roars and screams sounded as the group descended as one on Orion, ignoring another whoosh and the vanishing of a few more demons as Lightray passed through again. On his hover-bike, Steppenwolf curled his upper lip in distaste as he watched the fray.
“Even the so-called ‘Dog of War’ will have difficulty escaping this one….” He murmured. Then he gunned the engine of his bike and took himself towards the melee, seeking his time.
* * *
Scott Free sat in his cell, eyes closed, legs crossed.
Soon, he mused,
it would be time again. He would make another escape attempt, probably fail, and then end up right back here in his reinforced cell, as always. No bars this time for Scott Free, instead he sat in a cell with no weaknesses. It was a cube of impregnable rock, with only a single monitor which allowed his jailers to contact him, and one door which could not possibly be opened except from the outside. He was going to enjoy this one.
As he strained his ears, waiting for his newest guard to arrive, he heard the cool
hiss which he had learned immediately preceded the opening of the door. Tensing himself, eyes still closed, he prepared to leap into action. The door swung open fully, he readied himself to move, and…
“Hey there, Scott,” came the sickly, impossibly sweet voice he had come to hate so much.
“Lashina…” he breathed, and his eyes opened as genuine fear came over him. He looked up and stood as he saw Lashina entering the cell menacingly, her whip twitching in her hand as though she could not contain her fanatical eagerness to begin. Behind her, he saw Barda standing impassive, totally unmoved, ensuring he did not bound for the door. Silently, he shot her a desperate plea for help. She did not respond, not even with a glance.
“I’ve been looking forward to playing with you again…” hissed his sadistic tormentor, and the whip spiked towards him.
* * *
For a moment, Highfather could not be sure the video-displayer was even turned on. The screen seemed to show utter, pitch darkness. He paused for a moment, considering asking Fastbak to adjust the display, but then the deep, dark voice he loathed so much spoke out of the blackness.
“Izaya.” Imperceptibly, something shifted in the depth of the darkness and he was staring into two blazing embers of Hell.
“Uxas,” he acknowledged, addressing the Dread One by his former name just as he had been addressed. Two gestures of contempt, each equally futile- Izaya had no problem with his former name, and the lord of Apokolips was far above such petty irritancy.
“I am here. What do you desire?”
“What the Lord of Hosts desires…” came a rich, excited voice which seemed at odds with the darkness from which it emenated. “Is explanation!” Then Highfather saw another form step forwards from the darkness- the white-clad form of a striking God with a handsome face, a shock of bright hair- and eyes that burned with passion. The infamous propaganda master of Apokolips- the so-called ‘glorious’ Godfrey. It did not take one of Highfather’s intellect to realise the implied insult in using a lackey to speak to him.
“Has the leader of New Genesis broken his word?” pressed Godfrey. Izaya had no idea what the fool was referring to, his eyes still fixed on the burning form of Darkseid’s own behind the speaker.
“To what do you refer?” he addressed the question to Darkseid, ignoring Godfrey as the gnat he was.
“To what? To an attack upon Apokolips! Upon the Royal Palace! Upon the One True God himself. By your people, no less.” Izaya’s eyes widened in shock- discord on Apokolips? Another rebellion by the Hunger Dogs, perhaps?- he had heard nothing of this!
“I never condoned, nor knew of such an attack! I did not breach The Pact- it has nothing to do with me.” The arrogant face of Godfrey sneered in contentment- and the flaming coals of Hell seemed to burn a little brighter.
“We are so glad to hear it! Then My Lord will certainly not be breaching it when he destroys those heretics who dared attack him- since they’re not associated with you, of course!”
“Wait!” Highfather barked. “What do you mean? Who was it who…?”
“You’ll work out the answer, I’m sure! You really should keep your dogs on a shorter leash.” Godfrey responded, and then he gave a gesture and the feed vanished. It took only a second for the reality to hit Highfather.
“…By the Source…” he breathed. “Orion and Lightray.” He sat in silence, staring at the empty screen, comprehending the enormity of the exchange. Without meaning to, he had effectively disowned them, had given Darkseid a screen to attack them both and….
“I’ve killed them…” he hissed. “By the Source, I’ve killed them both!”
* * *
Orion was lost in the depths of battle rage. He drove one blue-gloved fist into a demon’s mouth, while squeezing the trigger of his harness, furiously discharging bolt after bolt of death into the endless horde. The monsters were clustered thick around him- biting at him, tearing with their claws, but he kept fighting, refusing to be overwhelmed. He rammed his metal helmet into one’s head, and viciously kicked out at others with both feet. There were too many of them- he couldn’t stay still, that would be conceding defeat.
Desperately, he reached out and drove the Astro-Harness onwards, scattering the creatures as he triggered the engines to push towards the form of Steppenwolf. But several of the demons would not be dislodged and stayed on, trying to bite at him. Gritting his teeth, he elbowed one in the face, and it broke off with a cry of pain. Another lunged at him, but in response, he simply fired a spray of blasts from the harness, gunning it down in an instant.
Two more demons broke off from the pack to come at him, howling insanely, but before they could reach him, another golden flash of light claimed both their lives- Lightray had accepted that the creatures were not truly living, Orion was glad to see. Despite the colossal odds ranged against them, they might make it out of this yet. But as more demons descended on him, he swerved to avoid him- they were only distractions, as the sudden sound in his ear reminded him.
“STEPPENWOLF!” he roared, turning to face the dark General, who had pulled his hover-bike to a stop mere metres away.
“Orion,” nodded his foe, twirling his sabre in an elegant gesture. “Truly this shall be a day to remember…”
* * *
*Crack*“ARRRRGGHGG….hrrgg…hrgg….”
*Crack*“AAAAAAAAAAA….agg…arrgg…”
*Crack*Again and again the whip came down on the defenceless Scott Free, and each slash rang like a blow against Barda herself.
Why? she asked herself? Why was she taking this in such a deeply personal manner? She had seen captives beaten before- seen them tortured far worse than this, but here, now, something was different, and she could scarcely stand to watch. He had remained silent for the first three hundred, unwilling to give Lashina the satisfaction of his pain, but he could not stop himself now.
*Crack*“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA……..”
The newest scream of pain was more pronounced than any that had come before, and Barda found her jaw tightening. To distract herself from the agony the prisoner was enduring, she repeated the mantra of Apokolips into herself again and again, while forcing herself to watch.
Pain is Joy. Life is Suffering. Anti-Life is freedom. Love is lies. But however many times she repeated it, it did not seem to match what she saw before her.
“Come on…” Lashina crooned, her voice alluring and seductive. “It’s so simple… so easy to end the pain. Just say it. Beg to die, to die for Darkseid. Accept Him. There’s nothing but Him.” In response, Scott Free simply gave a ragged cough of blood. He was curled into a ball now on the cell floor, the stone all around him stained red, but still he refused to concede.
“…Such a pathetic little toy,” sighed Lashina, and then the whip came down again.
*Crack*As the hideous spectacle went on, Barda found her grip on her MegaRod tightening still further, as she forced herself to keep watching. Why wasn’t the fool admitting it? It was pointless to go on living like this- Lashina would not stop until he admitted the Truth- and since all there was in life was that central Truth, to deny it was so foolish.
*Crack*Why would he not admit it? In the name of the Dark One, why did he not…?
And in that moment, Scott Free opened his eyes and looked up with a ragged stare, and shot her a look- and this time it was no longer beseeching, no longer pleading, just one of pure bitter anger- of hatred.
*Crack*“Enough.”
*Crack*“I SAID ENOUGH!” bellowed Barda. Lashina did not even turn to look at her, instead looking down at Scott with a smile on her lips.
“But Barda, he hasn’t tasted enough yet…. The little toy won’t…”
Then there was a very different crack as Barda punched her in the mouth with such force that she spun around and collapsed unconscious. Barda stared down at her body, panting heavily in anger.
“That is why I lead the Furies, not you.” She looked up at Free, anger still burning in her. “She’ll be back tomorrow. And don’t get the wrong idea- I only saved your pathetic life because you’re only of value to the Lord while you’re alive.” Reaching down, she seized the form of Lashina by the hair and pulled her from the cell. Dumping her in the corridor outside, she reached back and slammed shut the door, leaving the bleeding and surprised Free alone in the darkness once more.
* * *
With a roar of rage, Orion charged towards Steppenwolf, storing up the energies of the Astro-Force within him, ready to unleash it. Before he could reach his foe, more parademons were upon them, but in his fury they were mere distractions.
“Steppenwolf!!!” He let a little of his power go, throwing the beasts back like the animals they were. Battle rage pounded within his head, turning everything he saw red. Suddenly the distance between himself and his foe, while short, seemed too great, and he felt a burning, blinding need to kill… to tear, to rend, to destroy, to eviscerate this enemy of New Genesis and remove all trace of him from the cosmos.
And as he burst free of the creatures enclosing him, he thought for a split second he saw a hint of fear on his enemy’s face, and the distance closed and…
He froze in space, mouth open in shock, eyes wide.
“Utt….ut….” He stammered weakly. And behind him, where he had floated down into place on a small hovering platform, Kanto the assassin leered, twisting the knife which he had stabbed straight into Orion’s spinal column, through one of the gaps in his Astro-Harness.
“Dog of War indeed. How pathetic.” In contempt, the assassin removed a small device from his belt and placed it against the paralyzed Orion’s helmet. There was a flare of light and then the god of New Genesis had collapsed in his harness, dead to the world. Kanto smiled in triumph.
“RRRAAAAGGHHHH!” came a sudden cry, and he turned in surprise to find the glowing form of an enraged Lightray charging straight for him, hands outstretched. Kanto opened his mouth in shock as the form hurtled towards him and….
…with a sudden jerk, was thrown backwards. Lightray’s eyes were now open wide themselves, and he was spasming. With a squirm of horror, the young God looked down at the throwing knife embedded in his chest and the spreading red stain.
“Pathetic indeed,” affirmed Steppenwolf, lowering his hand with a sneer. “Stun that one as well and then we’ll bring them home. Darkseid will be pleased with his new prisoners.”
* * *
Darkness ruled in the throne room of Apokolips. There was never silence here, not quite- at all times, the distant grinding of wheels and forges and the roaring of flames echoed through the cavernous hall. But sometimes- and these times happened more often as of late- shadow seemed to rule the vast chamber, so that even the flames outside did not cast life into its depths, and all that was light and fair and bright seemed to be leeched from the air itself. Now was such a time, and the only lights that illuminated the room were the twin embers of blazing scarlet that seemed to suck all brightness into them and burned hotter than the hottest fire.
“It is a dangerous game you play, Darkseid,” came a cool voice, laden with arrogance- and with none of the fear the dark one had come to expect from his subordinates. The silhouette of a figure in a chair was now clear against the light that still blazed outside, as the new arrival sat in the entrance, fingers knit, not quite entering the darkness of the throne room.
“Danger is an illusion, Metron,” came the calm, deep response from the depths of the blackness.
“All actions carry consequences. All consequences can, inevitably, lead to disaster.” His eyes narrowed as he turned to survey the Chronicler floating calmly in his chair, as was his custom.
“All actions, therefore, are dangerous. But in this I grant you- some actions carry with them a greater peril.” “Such as risking a war you may not win to satisfy a personal curiosity?” countered Metron, unmoved by the despot’s soliloquy.
“Such as tempting the ire of the lord of hosts,” the Dark God responded. For a moment, Metron narrowed his eyes and stared straight into the twin fires of his foe’s eyes, each of them locked in a silent battle of wits. But when the contest ended, it was Metron who broke it off, glancing away. And he couldn’t help but get the feeling- a feeling he knew to be of course absurd- that the darkness dominating the room had deepened just a little bit more.
“I have fulfilled my part of the bargain. Now...”
“Very well. As promised, you are permitted to survey the impending confrontation. If the whelp is as you claim, you shall know it- and witness his destruction.” “One last question,” Metron asked. “How did you even notice a world as insignificant as this ‘Earth’ to search for the Equation there?” To his great surprise, the God of Evil smiled ever so slightly.
“No world is too insignificant- you of all Gods should know that. I have walked on Earth in secret for many years- invisible, unknowable, as I have on so many worlds. Where there is misery, where there is horror, where there is sadness and suffering… I am. And soon, when these fools are dealt with…. I shall be there again. And this time nothing will stand between me and the end of all existence. Nothing.”TO BE CONTINUED…Next Issue:
Orion and Lightray, PRISONERS OF DARKSEID! ‘Nuff Said.
