Apokolips. About the worst possible place you could end up. Past the fire pits, parademons, and screams of terror of the slaves being whipped, the base of Darkseid and his Elites stood. A fortress of despair, a perfect centerpiece for the hell-like planet.
Darkseid’s eyes examined his supposed “son” carefully. Tall, large, and able to use the Omega Beams. He seemed to be quite the threat indeed.
Grayven’s ember eyes met with his father’s. So alike, but so different. There was a different drive behind Grayven’s.
“So Father, impressed?”
“Hardly.” Darkseid glanced over at the defeated Kalibak with disgust.
There was a deep silence in the throne room, the Elites unsure of what to do against such a foe.
“I came here because I have a growing interest in my family tree.” Grayven stone-like lips curled with a sinister grin.
Grayven circled Darkseid and the Elites slowly, each step like an earthquake in the ground.
“And if you are my son, then you should know better than to waste your time trying to flatter me.” Darkseid’s gaze pierced into Grayven’s eyes but the new arrival did not falter.
“Actually the interest is more focused on one specific ancestor,”
Darkseid’s fist clenched slowly, but his face still calm and controlled.
“Yuga Khan. Your father.”
Steppenwolf twitched at the name of the man he once called brother. The other Elites looked confused except for Desaad who stayed in the shadows behind his companions, his hood drawn over most of his face.
“Yuga Khan was dealt with long ago.”
“I’ve heard. The coup that you began ending with you overthrowing him and trapping him in the Source Wall. Isn’t that the legend I’ve heard so much about?” Grayven stopped circling the group as he stood directly in front of Darkseid. God to God.
Kalibak dizzily managed to get to his feet and he looked at his father for a moment but Darkseid grudgingly looked away. Kalibak growled, a disgrace once again.
“Being the one to have trapped him, I guess you also know how to get him out…” Grayven took a step closer to Darkseid.
“Don’t you?”
***
Sunny skies loomed over New Genesis as the floating city of Supertown rest high above the ground. Orion and Lightray entered the citadel. Orion appeared tense and frustrated, his feet stomping as he moved, impatiently. Lightray glanced at him and rolled his eyes.
Same old, Orion. Always on edge.
Highfather Izaya stood not far from the duo. Orion and Lightray stepped forward and bowed slightly.
“You wished to speak to us, Highfather?” Orion asked, maintaining his self control over his anger.
Lightray stared at Izaya’s face to find something he had never seen on Highfather.
Fear.
“Yes…I…” Highfather’s eyes darted around nervously.
“I received a message from the Source.” Highfather admitted, stroking his great white beard.
“And?” Orion folded his arms, grumpily waiting for an explanation.
“There is a threat that could destroy us all on its way.” Izaya announced coldly.
Lighray’s mouth opened a bit at the sudden news. Orion stood still, thoughts rushing through his mind. His fists clenched tightly and his body standing tall and strong.
“Apokolips! I knew it!” Orion growled, turning quickly so he could leave and prepare.
“No. It is not Apokolips.”
Orion stared hard into Highfather’s gentle and calm eyes hoping to learn the information that the wise man kept secret.
“Then who is it?” Lighray asked.
“I cannot say.” Izaya sighed.
“You can’t say or you don’t want to?” Orion snapped, impatiently.
Izaya gave Orion a glare that would have made any other resident of Supertown back off. It was rare for Highfather to ever get angry. Orion stood his ground firmly and Lighray stood speechless, understanding completely why his comrade’s nickname was the Dog of War.
“I requested your presence here because I have a task for both of you.” Izaya changed the subject.
Orion and Lightray listened closely.
“The Source revealed that we will have to make an alliance with Apokolips to stop the coming darkness.” Highfather told them who both looked as if he had just told a horrible joke.
“Work together with them? That’s insane!” It was Lighray’s turn to be outspoken.
“I will never help those monsters that have tried so hard to destroy us!” Orion thundered but Highfather Izaya actually smiled, unaffected by the outbursts.
“I figured as much. Which is the exact reason I summoned you here. You must find another ally. We are not fit to handle this darkness on our own.”
“Another ally? Like who?” Lightray wondered.
“The Bugs of New Genesis.” Izaya said and both Orion and Lightray stood stunned by the idea.
***
Scott Free sat on his old mattress in his dusty old apartment. He held Oberon’s card in his hand, having read it dozens of times over and over again. But could he really forget about his old life, about Barda, to live on Earth? He read the card another time,
OBERON. TALENT FINDING EXTRAORDINARE.
Followed by his number.
Not now. Not yet. Scott hesitantly tucked the card underneath his mattress
Scott got to his feet and opened up his apartment window. It was time for his nightly wanderings through the city. He climbed out of the opening and onto the side of his apartment building. The night was young.
***
“Two artifacts. The Keys of the Gods I’ve heard them be called. They were split up between you and New Genesis to seal away Yuga Khan forever.” Grayven explained smugly to his father.
Darkseid stood tall and menacing, seemingly unaffected by Grayven’s insinuations. Kanto looked from Darkseid to Grayven, his scarred face curling into an observant expression. He could see the resemblance. There was no doubt in his mind that this newcomer was indeed Darkseid’s son. There was the same sense of superiority and most striking were the burning crimson eyes. They were identical.
The two titans of power stared each other down, stone cold faces expressionless, reading the other’s expressions.
“Why are you here?” Darkseid demanded an answer from his long lost son.
Grayven grinned maliciously, eyes still dueling with his father’s.
“To ask for your allegiance.”
“Your allegiance?” Steppenwolf protested boldly but backed down at a glance from Grayven.
“You expect me to just hand you the Key and let you leave?” Darkseid threatened.
“Oh I already have the Key,”
All of the Elites looked at each other, stunned by the revelation. Even Darkseid raised his rocky eye brow. Desaad pushed his hood a little bit further in front of his face.
“I was just hoping I wouldn’t have to be the one to destroy you, father.” Grayven glared as he held out half of a metallic orb in the palm of his large hand.
The Elites prepared themselves for anything with Darkseid standing like a behemoth in front of them.
“Fortunately for you, that day is not today.” Grayven’s eyes flashed a bright red and Omega Beams launched from his pupils towards Darkseid.
“My lord!” Steppenwolf cried, the other Elites diving for cover.
Darkseid unleashed his own Omega Beams which collided into Grayven’s. The opposing powers battled each other violently, searching for a weak point. The last thing Steppenwolf saw was an explosion that erupted from the center of their battle. Flames filled the throne room, the ceiling blowing apart into pieces and everyone being knocked to the ground.
Darkseid still stood but as the smoke cleared, Grayven had vanished! Kanto coughed from the dust and smoke filling the throne room while Steppenwolf held a bleeding arm at his side. Godfrey wiped off dirt from his clothes while Granny held a still injured Lashina. Kalibak spat out some blood from his mouth but attempted to appear unharmed. Darkseid turned around and looked at his Elites with no sympathy or remorse in his expression. His ember eyes traced along the line of his injured acolytes when he discovered something.
“Where is Desaad?”
***
On the edge of Supertown, overlooking the endless land far below. Orion strapped on his Astro-Harness tightly around his body, making sure he wouldn’t fall once he took flight. Lightray sat, his legs dangling over the edge of the enormous platform Supertown floated upon. He had never traveled into the grasslands and forests of the world below before.
The legends of the Bugs of New Genesis had always filled him with uneasiness. Any New God that went deep into the wilderness of the world below Supertown were never heard from again. Killed by monsters that would devour their prey. Lightray had always thought it was just a bedtime story but now…to learn that they are indeed real was too much.
“You okay?” Orion grunted awkwardly from behind Lightray, hovering a few inches off of the ground in his harness.
Lightray chuckled to himself and stood up.
“Don’t tell me you never wondered about the Bugs, Orion?” Lightray asked.
Orion reacted as if Lightray had just came up with a terrible joke. His expression serious and stern.
“Should I have?”
“Yeah…I forgot. You’re you.” Lightray rolled his eyes and stood looking over the edge of the platform.
There was a pause between the duo.
“Well I guess we better get going.” Lightray leapt off of the platform and down descending towards the ground far below.
The journey had begun.
***
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Barda’s fists smashed against the bars of her cell, aggressively, the sound ringing throughout her surroundings. The door creaked open violently and Mad Harriet of the Female Furies psychotically danced into the room.
“So that’s whose making all the noise! The traitor!” Harriet hissed, scornfully.
“Let me out of here, Harriet or I swear you will be sorry when I get out!” Barda assured her former comrade.
“Like that’ll happen! If I let you go you’d go find your lovey dovey, Free. If I was Granny I would have had that pathetic rodent dissected centuries ago!” Harriet laughed wildly.
Barda reached through the bars and grasped Harriet by the neck, pulling her up to the bars. Surprise and tension appeared in Harriet’s face but were quickly replaced by a crazed grin.
“You won’t kill me! You never had it in ya Barda!” Harriet laughed.
“If you ever insult Scott Free again, then we will have a very serious problem, Harriet.” Barda’s grip tightened but three parademons rushed into the room.
They clutched metallic staff’s with electricity pouring out of the end of it. They jabbed Barda with the weapons, making her release Harriet and retreat further back into the small cell.
“Catch ya around traitor!” Harriet cackled, walking out of the doorway.
***
Scott Free kneeled on the ledge of a tall apartment complex, watching a pair of lovers go into their apartment cheerfully. He sighed quietly and looked up at the starry sky. Barda was out there. On that hell he had been imprisoned in for so long. Would he really risk going back? Could he?
Barda…
The memories of that battle on Apokolips showered through his mind. Her saving him from being brought back to his personal hell. She had sacrificed herself for him. Now it was his turn to do the same. He got to his feet and stood proudly above the streets, full of a newfound confidence and motivation.
I’m going to rescue you Barda. I promise.
***
Orion and Lightray remained still, a few yards above the ground. In front of them was a barrier of trees and bushes. The entrance to the forest that Lightray had secretly dreaded for so long. Once they went in there would be no turning back. That much was clear.
“So? What do you think?” Lightray tried to brighten the mood.
Orion stared hard at the environment in front of him. He had never seen anything truly like it. It was everything Supertown wasn’t. Deprived of most sunlight, green and dirty, and most of all, unpopulated. So he thought.
“I think...let’s get this over with.” Orion pouted, soaring swiftly past Lightray into the dark depths of the woods.
***
“Desaad has betrayed us.” Darkseid boldly announced to Kanto and Steppenwolf who kneeled before him as they stood on the balcony overlooking the slaves and slime of Apokolips.
“What should we do my lord?” Steppenwolf wondered.
Darkseid turned away from them and looked proudly over the firepits and orderly streets of his planet. No one else could accomplish what he had. He had discovered true order and the only way to achieve that was through fear and discipline.
“My lord?” Steppenwolf repeated.
Darkseid returned his attention back to his two Elites.
“Kanto, my expert assassin. Track down Desaad. He could not have gotten very far.”
Kanto rose to his feet, honored by the task laid before him.
“Shall I let him live?” Kanto flipped a small dagger in his hand.
Darkseid looked thoughtfully into Kanto’s scarred face.
“Dead if you must. Alive if you can. That way he will learn that no one crosses Darkseid without facing his wraith.”
Kanto bowed respectively to his leader and then propelled himself off of the balcony and down to the rotting streets.
“Arise, Steppenwolf. I have a special task for you,” The general of Apokolips’ army remained curious and excited to find out his mission.
“Due to Desaad’s scheme, my supposed son now holds one of the Keys. I suggest you make sure we do not lose the other.”
“Are you suggesting we go to New Genesis?” Steppenwolf stroked his well groomed mustache, intrigued by the idea.
“Yes. Prepare your troops. We go to New Genesis.”
***
Trees whizzed past, Orion and Lightray flying at great speed through the dark and gloomy forests. Lightray dodged branches and logs with expertise, still keeping his great speed as he did it. Orion, the more direct of the two, blasted through the obstacles in his path with a small cannon attached to his Astro-Harness.
“So Orion!” Lightray hollered over the wind. “Do you think the Bugs really exist? So far we haven’t found a thing!”
There was a sudden screech from nowhere, a blast of energy slamming into both Orion and Lightray, tossing them out of the air and onto their backs in the mud filled ground of the woods.
“In fact they do,”
Lightray looked up in childish amazement at the newcomer while Orion snorted boastfully, unimpressed by his ‘grand entrance’. The creature looked rather normal, like a man covered in red and black cloth tightly stuck against his body, with a white tunic draped over him and yellow eyes.
“I am Forager of New Genesis. What place do Gods have among us Bugs?”
