The Hunter tilted back his head and laughed as the very air trembled about him with the impact.  Smoke roiled skyward in billowing waves, fire blossoming in explosions of red and orange, the garish glow of carnage and devastation.  He winced at the light, gritting his teeth against the blazing heat that rippled over him, his armor near boiling as he danced among the clouds, the Astro Force lighting his way.

He soared up and around, facing the destruction as he charged downward once more towards the fray.  He could see the swarming Para Demons, a cloud themselves sweeping across the island, shock sticks blazing and flashing as they struck.  The very ground seethed with the charge of the armies of Apokolips; foot soldiers and Dog Soldier Cavalry surging forward, an unstoppable, unending juggernaut.  He saw Granny Goodness spouting orders to her Female Furies: Lashina, Stompa, Mad Harriet and the rest of her ‘girls’ cutting a swath through the struggling Amazons.  They were reveling in the carnage the same as he, exalting in the battle and war.  Here was life and destiny.  Here was joy!

Orion shouted as he swept up and around, the Astro Force screaming his intention, blazing a path through the denizens of darkness.  They had disobeyed him of course, thrown the Heir of Apokolips over for the brittle brass god that he had dethroned.  Darkseid had returned, and like the bootlicking curs that that dark and shattered world produced they had all crawled back to his favor.  His father, deposed lord and dead entity, sealed and sentenced to the WALL by the SOURCE had returned to lead his world to greatness once more.  And inevitably to defeat, as was his wont, as always.  He would be defeated of course.  Such was the will and the way.  The final battle was yet to come- again- though they had played that scene time after time.  Fine, and so be it…

Orion would play his part to the fullest extent.  He would do the dance once more in the Fire Pits and let the prophecies be damned!  They should find him wanting?

Never!

By the SOURCE, it was good to be alive!

Superman shook his head trying to clear it as he struggled to climb from the rubble.  He had not held back, and Themyscira had suffered for his effort.  Whatever the structure had been where Darkseid had stood defiant, it now lay shattered and ruined about them.  Flames leapt from the charred and broken stone.  Energy danced over the rubble unbound.  He could feel the mystical sting, the burn of the magic lacing the land to which he had no defense.  He felt the pain, yet still he was determined to rise.

“A worthy effort, Son of Krypton,” Darkseid said as his booted foot slammed down on his back.  “Most impressive.  As always, you do not disappoint.  Such a waste though.  Far better to simply surrender.”

Superman gritted his teeth as the Lord of Apokolips leaned in, grinding his heel into the small of his back.  “Never…” he said, sucking air through his teeth, his muscles straining against Darkseid’s might.  He heard that laugh again and craned his neck to see.

Darkseid seemed unharmed, though his armor was cracked and split.  His stony face shifted as he grinned, his eyes aglow with delight as he leaned in to gloat.

“I am so glad that it was you.  A pity that the Amazon heir is not here to share in the glory, but perhaps she is indeed the best and brightest of your ilk.  She ran, Kal-El.  She deserted you all, you should know; you, your League and world.  Even her mother.”

Superman heard Hippolyta’s scream as she raged, striving to stand in her bondage.  She was battered and bloody, her face a ,mass of swollen flesh as Granny Goodness stepped forward and swept a callused hand across her once beautiful face.  Granny spat on the fallen form, slamming her jack boot onto Hippolyta’s neck.

“Learn your place, girl!  Granny holds no favors for uppity little bitches like you!”

“Crone!” Hippolyta hissed as Granny ground down.  “You shall die wriggling on the end of my blade!  This I swear, to all the Goddesses of Olympus!”

“Hah!” Granny Goodness spat as she leaned in, ramming her Beta Rod into Hippolyta’s back, laughing as the Amazon queen writhed in new agony.  “Brave words, maggot!  Granny will make you eat them soon enough.”  She rammed the rod down again and Hippolyta squealed-

“Stop it!” Superman shouted, his eyes suddenly aglow as Granny’s rod danced with fire.  Granny Goodness’ eyes went wide as the skin of her hand began to sizzle, but before she could toss her rod aside it exploded in a blinding flash of energy.

Superman squinted into the flare, feeling the burn as the strange energies of Apokolips washed across him.  It hurt, and he saw Hippolyta fall unconscious just as Granny Goodness flew back and flopped to the ground, her great bulk smoldering…

“Yesss…”

Kal-El felt Darkseid’s fist slam across the back of his head, driving his face forward into the shattered stone of the broken, defiled temple.  He felt blood flowing from his lip and nose as he spat, struggling to raise his head…

Never surrender…

“Give me more, Kryptonian,” Darkseid snarled, his thick fingers gathering into a fist, lacing Superman’s hair and jerking back.  “Give me your all!”

Superman dug his fists into the broken stone and pushed, trying to rise.  With a scream of rage he broke Darkseid’s hold, his arms going wide as he rose, flowing to his feet, flinging his oppressor back and away.  He turned…

“You’ve got it!”

His eyes went red as fire exploded about them all…

Gotham

The Batman grimaced only slightly as he slipped the bat-winged shuriken from the bloody flesh of the ‘creature’.  Red oozed from the throat of the Para Demon as he stood, staring down at the dead body: a misshapen thing in tarnished bronze armor, gossamer wings sprouting from its back.  Calling it a creature only made the slaying a bit easier, but still it would haunt him- all of them that he had been forced to kill.  It was war, after all.

He looked up, watching the flitting shadows as they swept by overhead, the swarm flowing through Gotham like a devastating plague of locusts, destroying the city- HIS city with wonton abandon.  There was no rhyme or reason in the assault, simply senseless violence and carnage designed obviously to occupy him from the true threat, whatever it was.  He had not had the time to reason it all out as yet as he strove to defend his city.  It was like spitting into the ocean however, plucking sand from the beach one grain at a time.

He could hear the screams of his people, the citizens of Gotham as they fell under the Para Demon assault.  They died by the dozens minute by minute, the lucky ones.  He had dealt with Darkseid and his legions enough to know that any survivors would be shown no mercy; sentenced to the mines of Apokolips, twisted and coerced under the tender care of Granny Goodness and her orphanage where that wrinkled prune would wring every bit of hope from those that came into her care.  But why?

Why attack Gotham?

Or was there more involved than a simple assault?  Was there some other agenda, a vendetta against the League?  He had heard of the current troubles of the JLA and wondered if this might be a part of that.  Ralph Dibny had died at the hands of a new and refurbished Secret Society of Super-Villains.  The Batman recalled their original ties with the Funky Flashman and Apokolips.  Darkseid himself had been involved then.  Was he still, again?

He threw the shuriken in hand as a patrol of Para Demons flew too close, dropping three with a flurry and spray of blood, the fourth driven to the dirty alley floor with an elbow shattering its spine.  It was war he reminded himself as the creature writhed in the filth, screaming in painful agony until he drove a blow into its throat to still its cries.

“Very good, human…”

The Batman turned to the sound of the slick voice.  He saw a man stepping from the shadows dressed in lavender and gold, a foppish hat saddled on his head as his leather-gloved hands rained applause.  Batman’s eyes narrowed, his mind sifting through the files, which Scott Free had provided during his stint in the JLI.

“Kanto…”

The man grinned, bowing slightly and the Dark Knight tensed to see the other’s hand slide into the shadows of his person.  Batman heard the sound of a blade being drawn and the Assassin of Apokolips stood upright again, his mustached face twisted into a mocking grin.

“I am so pleased that my reputation proceeds my arrival.  I in turn have heard of you oh lord of the night, dark creature of vengeance.  Yours is a tale of glory and fright that holds no bounds even in the halls of the Dark Lord’s most pristine temples.  I have looked forward to this day for years, Batman.  Let us make this a battle to be remembered, sung forever more by those bards that will recall the tale of the new order and how it came to be.”

“New order?” the Batman said, adjusting his stance as his foe swished his blade through the air between them.  “What is this?  What is Darkseid planning?”

“Oh, please, Batman.  Do not mire our moment with useless babble.  Let us thrill with the fight, revel in the encounter of two such as we.”  Kanto whipped his blade up in salute, his eyes crackling with madness as he grinned.  “A bargain then.  Defeat me, Bat God and I shall reveal all.  My lord’s plans are intricate and deep, and one cannot expect some poor powerless monkey as yourself to sift through the mire of his thinking.  Give me sport, human, and I shall give you your just reward.  Dance with me…”

The Batman stared in disbelief as Kanto struck an en garde stance, his blade up but extended.  He continued to grin, a slimy, smarmy thing as though he had no fear of death or defeat.  Win or lose, Kanto seemed to think that the outcome would not matter.  Fine…

The Batman leaned forward, planting his feet as he took a stance ready to attack and defend.  He slid one arm back, remembering his own fencing lessons in Paris years ago, his left arm hidden within the folds of his cloak as his right eased forward to draw attention.  He glanced about quickly, getting the lay of the alleyway that would be their field of battle before directing his fierce gaze on the assassin once again.  He grinned, beckoning to Kanto.

“Bring it.”

Gotham City

Taking an explosive batarang from his utility belt Robin flipped through the air, and launched it at an on coming Para Demon. The explosion was enough to make the Apokolips air trooper come crashing down to the rooftop Robin was standing on.

His partner Kid Devil fired blast after blast from his trident weapon that floored the Para Demons as they came his way. “So Robin how do you think the others are doing?” he asked as he somersaulted backwards and kicked a Para Demon in the face as it came in low.

“Let’s find out.” Placing his hand to his ear he activated his com-link. “This is Robin,” he said as he unleashed two more Batarangs that took out several Para Demons. “What’s the group status report?”

{{This is Bushido on the East End. Target and I’ve cleared most of the demon creatures here.}}

{{Black Wind reporting in. Gotham PD has began firing on the flying uglies on the south side. I suggest everyone stay away from this area. Orpheus and I are moving on to the southwest area of the city.}}

{{Adam here. Arrowette and I are finishing up on the north end.}}

{{Arrowette here Robin, are you sure it’s okay for us to be operating in Gotham?}}

“I could care less if it’s okay with him,” Robin replied as he fired a cable line and swung from the rooftop, and Kid Devil took off into the sky blasting the flying demons along the way. As Robin sailed through the air, he unleashed a barrage of smoke bombs, and Batarangs at the Para Demons. “This city needs our help, and we’re going to defend it with everything we have. All teams continue clearing out parts of the city as you come to them.”

Manhattan

As she ran, Karen felt her heard pounding. She didn't have the slightest idea what the green armored thing was that was flying behind her firing at her or what it was doing in New York but it was only a miracle that it hadn't hit her with a shot yet.
 
As another shot hit into a car to her right Karen jumped onto its bumper, heading for a store with a blown in front window, she felt ideas in her head that didn't make a lot of sense. Acting on them she turned and jumped at the Para Demon, grabbing his gun and aiming a punch at his windpipe with her other hand.
 
As they both dropped out of the sky Karen hit the ground hard, still struggling with the now somewhat angry Para Demon she, without thinking, aimed a knife hand strike at its throat before breaking its neck.
 
As she struggled to her feet Karen tried to work out what had happened. She couldn't figure out what had just happened.

"What the hell is happening to me?"

Opal

Ted Knight leaned back and squeezed the bridge of his nose, clenching his eyelids shut to ease the strain of his eyes weak with age.  He blinked, trying to focus as he grabbed at his wire-rimmed glasses set-aside for the time being on a nearby table.  He heard his coffee mug tumble, shattering far below on the cold, tiled floor.

“You okay dad?”

Ted turned back, glancing to the floor some thirty feet below his viewing station set beneath the lens of the great telescope and saw his son, Jack.  He was dressed against the chill of winter outside; a long, leather coat with a hooded sweatshirt beneath, his rattiest blue jeans and combat boots.  As always his jacket was littered with pins and buttons, the most notable being his silver US Marshal’s badge; a star within a circle.  Ted had to smile.

“Fine, Jack,” Ted said slipping his glasses on, hooking the stems behind his ears.  Just a little tired.”

“Wanna take a break?  Grab a bite somewhere in town?”

He wanted to, really. And there was no real reason not to.  Ted Knight had been watching the mysterious beam of light that had appeared for over two weeks now and there had been no change.  What were the odds that something might come of it now?  He had been eating in, denting his usual stores of food and drink that he built up from time to time for occasions just such as these: when the stars beckoned.  The heavens had always been fascinating to him of course, but when things like the beam appeared he all too often forgot about his basic needs like eating, and sleep, and family.

“Sure, Jack.  I can use the break, though I don’t know how much company I’ll be,” he said as he stood, typing on the small computer keypad to direct the telescope to continue on automatic scan.  “I’ll probably nod off at the table, wherever we go.”

“Not a problem, dad,” Jack said, raking his fingers through his wild hair and watching as his father slowly climbed his way down the metal rungs of the stairs.  He looked tired, and old, but he also looked more alive than he had seen his father in quite awhile.  Stargazing had that effect on him, just like memorabilia got Jack hyper and high.  To each his own, Jack decided as his father, the original Starman of the Forties, finally stepped to his side, donning his jacket, coat and hat.

“So, where we off to M’boy?” Ted asked as he gave a last, long look to the telescope as it moved ever so slightly along its track.  Nothing would happen…

“There’s this new diner out off 80 I was thinking about.  It’s a drive but I hear the chili dogs are outta this world…”

And besides, if it did, what could he possibly do?

Smallville, Kansas

At the moment Connor Kent is highly pissed off. He had just finished helping his Uncle Jon in finishing the new barn when a Boom Tube opened up and Demon Troops from Apokolips poured out and destroyed the barn. Taking off his glasses Connor blasted off into the sky, not even worrying about changing into his fighting clothes. Coming back down he plowed through the troops, knocking them over like bowling pins.

“You guys had to go and burn down the barn didn’t you!” Superboy shouted as he threw several of the demon troops with his tactical telekinesis. Spinning around quickly he nailed several others with a tornado punch move.

Taking off again Superboy began doing quick fly by’s on the troops knocking them into the air as he flew past. Looking to his side Superboy watched as Apokolips ground troops headed towards the Kent Farmhouse.

“I don’t think so!” he exclaimed as he veered right and went super sonic back to the farmhouse.

Jonathan Kent walked outside onto his front porch, shot gun in hand ready to defend his property. Landing in front of the house, Superboy readied himself.

“YOU’RE NOT GOING TO TOUCH...” shouted Superboy as his eyes began to glow red and crackle with energy. “...THEM!!!!” he finished and then unleashed a wide blast of heat vision that incinerated most of the ground troops, and left the others wondering what to do next.

“Con—Connor what was that?” Martha Kent asked in disbelief of what she just saw.

“I don’t know Aunt Martha,” he replied as he watched what was left of the ground troops stop in their tracks. “But it was kind of cool.”

Star City

There were some things in life that Floyd Lawton would have never expected to meet face to face.  One of which, being, a Hound of Apokolips.  Of course this was before he became the infamous hired assassin, Deadshot.  Now things like this were so common place, Dumbo the Elephant could land on him wearing a Bat Suit and golden tiara and he wouldn’t be surprised.  Uncomfortable, but not surprised.

Per usual, the job should have been easy, which meant Deadshot counted on some sort of interruption, whether by Green Arrow or someone else with an arrow shoved up their ass sideways.  What he got instead, after drawing a perfect bead on the mark, was an explosion of sound and light thirty feet behind him.  Concussive winds blew past him and drew the attention of Marcus Hawkins, CEO of some company whose name Lawton didn’t remember.  All that mattered was that Hawkins’ lab rats found a cure for some disease that was very profitable for Lex Corp’s pharmaceutical enterprises and Lex Luthor couldn’t have that.  Of course, that meant great bank for Lawton.

Now Hawkins was running for his life, out of range from Deadshot’s wrist cannons and a pair of howling mad, Hellhounds found the chrome plated assassin potentially delectable.  The arrival of the Boom Tube was probably a harbinger for some greater threat but all that mattered to Lawton was the suit running a minute mile.

The Hounds were ferocious and apparently tough enough to shake off Deadshot’s bullets as if they were little more than steel-jacketed fleas.  No, if Deadshot were going to collect his fee, he was going to need something bigger to shake off these mangy metal mongrels.  Something loud and over the top.  Like an exploding automobile.

A Hound leapt forward, its metal maw frothing impossibly, set on capturing Deadshot’s neck in its stronger than steel trap.  A very lucky but well placed kick, jammed the Hound beneath its jaw, catching the beast off guard and purchasing crucial seconds for the assassin, seconds he used to run toward the prettiest, most pristine vehicle he could find nearby.

He ran full out and reached his arms in front of him, very aware that the two Hounds followed as they chomped near his heels.  The large, singular lens on his chrome helmet focused and zoomed on target and Deadshot drew his aim on the fuel tank cover of a nearby Mercedes C280 luxury sedan.  Spitting tongues of orange erupted from the flash suppressors at Deadshot’s wrist cannons as they belched tens of rounds into the sedan’s rear quarter.  He cursed inwardly; waiting for the magic bullet that would ignite the fuel inside the car just as the two Hounds pounced into the air behind him.

The car exploded suddenly in a plume of flame and intense concussive shock.  The blast tore into the two Hounds, carrying them back and away from their prey.  Deadshot, never one to miss an opportunity for gunman’s grace, pirouetted in the air, twisting his body as the shockwave spiraled him in the direction he desired most.  Feet over head and right arm outstretched for what seemed like a fraction of a second, Deadshot willed another round through the air, this one meeting the back of Marcus Hawkins’ neck.  Once he landed Deadshot would retreat from the more than likely still living Hounds, but first Floyd Lawton would take a moment to smile.

Space

The alarm sounded; a shrill, monotonous ping that sounded in unison with a repeating flicker of amber light emitting from the middle of the navigation panel.  Garv blinked, leaning forward and letting his thick fingers dance across the controls before turning to the others.

“Jump’s coming in five,” he said, his voice higher pitched than one might expect from a being of his mass.

“So soon?” Lydea Mallor asked as she leaned over from her own console to double check his navigational read out.  The numbers seemed accurate, but she was still dubious that they had made a trip through Hyperspace in days that should have taken weeks.  Dox had suggested that he had created a ship that would do the job using a fluid electronics system of his own design as well as a new drive that he had modified from the old Tamaranian Jump Ships.  The ship of course was the Beta version and had yet to be tested, but as always he had been confident, bordering on arrogantly adamant.  “Take us out then, Garv, and keep your digits folded.”

Garv grinned as he went through the out-phase sequence while Darkstar geared the pilot’s station for reentry.  Behind them he could feel the eyes of the others watching and waiting, hoping that the drop from warp would be as smooth as the jump in.

“Dox is trying to kill us all, you realize,” Telepath said, his insectile joints clicking nervously.  “This is all part of some master plan of his, and he just wants us out of the way.”

“If Dox wanted us dead,” Lady Quark said with a thin smile, “he would have killed us long ago.”  She grinned at the pale face of her comrade as he stared back at her, trying to determine if she was actually making a joke.  In the end he shook his elongated head and closed his eyes against the coming phase into real time.

“Not for lack of trying, I say,” Strata chuckled as she adjusted the harness keeping her massive body in check for the drop.  It would not do at all to have her rock solid form bouncing about the tight cabin of Dox’s Jump Ship.  There was little room for error.

“Cut the chatter, people,” Lydea Mallor said as she adjusted her own harness and settled back into her organic chair.  “Drop in two… One…”

There was a surge of power as Garv shifted the controls, angling for real space.  They all felt the static charge that seared the air, a wafting gush of burnt ozone filling the cabin and no doubt condemning them all for some future, cancerous death provided they lived long enough.  The view port brightened, the liquids in the system heating up and actually boiling in spots behind the plasma shield containing the imagery of what lay ahead.  Little by little the gray that had been their view for the past two stellar weeks began to sparkle as light caught up with them.  Stars began to solidify, streaking past in long, drawn out lines of white and red and green.

And suddenly they all lurched forward.  There was a collective moan as the ship slowed, falling back into reality.  Alarms were clanging and buzzing as both Garv and Darkstar hurried to adjust the controls to the rigors of the solidity that they suddenly found themselves in again.  And of course they all saw the light.

They ignored it.

All eyes were wide to see the WALL stretching before them, taking up the entire scope of the main viewers and beyond.  They saw the deathly dull color, the remains of giants etched into the surface, composing the make-up of the monstrous edifice.  They had all heard the stories, but none had ever expected to live to see the thing.  Of all the things that they- any of them had ever said were awesome, this was by far the truer definition of the term.

“It’s… incredible…”

“I’ll say,” Garv said staring blankly at the WALL.  Darkstar was whispering beside him, praying apparently after her initial analysis.  He turned to Telepath.

“Anything?”

“I sense low level sparks of primordial intelligence scattered about the… the barrier.  Primal emotions, bent on survival- Wait!”

Everyone looked to Telepath, his eyes squinting shut as he tried to concentrate.  “There’s something, but static.  I can’t get a positive fix.”

“The beam seems to be hitting the WALL there,” Lady Quark said, pointing towards a spot on the main view where a hole remained.  It was almost closed, and SHE could see things scurrying along the WALL’s surface in that area, but there was still a gap that spit sparks and strange pink energy.

“That’s where we go then,” Lydea Mallor said as she keyed the short-range engines to life.  “We need to find…”

Something violet passed through the cabin, a streak of color that smashed in and out within a heartbeat.  Alarms sounded instantly, and they all felt the cold of the void as the ship’s environ started to vacate.

“Breech!” Mallor shouted as she quickly leaned forward, her light blue fingers dancing across the controls to initiate catastrophe protocols and redistribute power to seal the two holes in the hull.

“Ahh!” Telepath shouted, feeling the pull of explosive decompression.  He watched as everything that was not secured vanished through one of the holes in a flurry, into the void.

“Hold on!” Strata shouted, her arm stretching across both Telepath and Lady Quark as their bodies strained in harness.  Telepath was gasping for breath, the veins in his body starting to bulge.

“Quark!  Seal the breech!” Darkstar shouted as the ship started to spin.

The walls started to glow, red then fading to white.  They felt the heat rising.

“What the grife?”

“Look!”

They saw him there, hovering in the void of space not so far away.  His eyes were blazing red, his body showing no signs of discomfort as he long blue cloak rippled in his wake caught on some cosmic wind.

“Valor…”

The ship exploded in a blaze of light and fire…