Apokolips:
My guard was raised and my eyes focused as Big Barda was the first to reach me, swinging her axe at my head. Ducking under it and countering with a swift jab, she blocked it while flipping overhead, Gilotina rushing in with a thrust.
Pushing myself to the side, I avoided the kick and floated back, avoiding the slash that would have cut into my skin had I stayed in the same spot.
The sound of a whip made me float high and barely miss the kryptonite-tipped whip that tried to latch onto my leg, eyes narrowed at Lashina floating below.
Rushing forward with a kick of the air, I rolled to the side as she swung her whip at me again, legs snapping up and catching the edge of Barda's axe.
Flipping with my stop, I pushed it down and lashed out with a kick, one that was unfortunately blocked with the edge of Gilotina's blade.
She looked pleased as the blade cut through my pants, but surprise soon replaced it when the blade sparked against my skin and was pushed away.
At the same time, I twisted and landed a vicious kick to her jaw, one that sent her spinning towards the ground before I caught Barda's axe again.
A burst of TTK tore through my hands and into the axe, but I frowned as the axe-blade only cracked at the edge instead of shattering like I was expecting.
She herself frowned before I let go as the axe's blades shifted, lengthening and transforming it into a spear-like staff with a kryptonite tip.
Dipping out of the way as a green energy beam fired from the spear tip, I frowned as I felt the wrongness of the energy and stared at them.
"Okay, so you guys got mecha-shift kryptonite weapons and who knows what else, huh? Where'd you even find the kryptonite?" I asked with a scratch of my head, making sure to keep Lashina and Gilotina in my peripheral vision.
None answered and I turned my glance to where Granny Goodness floated beside Grayven before my eyes snapped to Lashina moving.
She shot from the ground and up towards me with a blistering pace, snapping her whip and clipping my shirt as I moved out of the way.
Gilotina was close behind as she threw her sword, which I immediately caught by the hilt. Wrapping Lashina's whip around it as she swiped it again, I pulled her in while throwing the sword back at its owner.
Surprisingly, Lashina avoided my punch while swinging her whip back, bringing the sword with it. Ducking underneath it while grabbing onto the whip, she looked surprised as I pulled her in while shooting forward.
She tried to fly back, but it was too late as I twisted, violently pulling her into an elbow to the chest. Spittle flew from her lips as I pulled the whip back, catching the sword and driving it through her stomach.
'She's okay. She's okay.' If it were not for the fact that I could still hear her breathing, I would have thought I killed Lashina.
Pulling the blade free and letting her fall didn't help much, but as I watched her vanish through a Boom Tube portal, I finally relaxed and turned to my remaining foes.
"Y-You...you vile Kryptonian!" Gilotina snarled, to which I just rolled my eyes as I flicked the blood off the sword.
"I told you all these fists are E for everyone," I replied with a frown. "What? Did you think I'd be too heroic and not fight back with the same murderous intent?"
Dropping both the sword and the whip to the ground, I shot forward when Gilotina lunged for her sword, but my eyes drifted to Barda just as she thrust her spear forward.
Another kryptonite beam fired from its tip as I rolled to the side, kicking off the air and diving down to where Gilotina caught her sword.
She spun and swung it at my head, a high-pitched shriek echoing as it sparked against my skin. It still burned though and I moved forward when she moved back, ducking under the blade.
My right hand shot up as I drove it into her stomach, folding her over my fist before I kicked at her head and sent her spiralling out of the way.
Moving to the side while ignoring the burn from the kryptonite beam, I looked up and caught Big Barda's axe as she swung down. The air trembled as I held it in place, ignoring her kick to my side.
Continuously bombarding the blades with explosions of TTK, she gritted her teeth before it transformed back into a spear, nearly taking my head off had I not leaned back.
My leg snapped up and cracked against the side of the spear as she blocked it, twisting and locking my leg at her side. With a spin, the world twisted as I was flung through the air and towards the ground, right into the path of a glowing blade.
Crossing my arms, I hissed as the blade finally left a gash along my arms, Gilotina looking pleased with herself as Barda continued charging at me.
Flipping over and flying out of the way of her thrust, her weapon transformed into its axe form as I pulled my skin back together and met her charge.
Weaving around her swings, I ignored her taunts and sneers while focused on the edge of the axe, which immediately turned into a spear that she twirled around her body.
"You are a stubborn piece of defective excrement, clone!" She snarled, twisting the spear in an attempt to impale me.
"And you're really annoying!" It was a lame comeback, but it helped keep me focus as I flew into her guard, trapping the spear with one arm to my side while my free fist cracked against her jaw.
Surprisingly, she pushed through the pain and turned with the blow, delivering a sharp kick into my side that most definitely cracked a rib.
Biting my lip and fighting through the agony, I turned and pulled her into a back kick, taking the spear before spinning and piercing it through her leg.
At the same time, a hiss escaped my lips as a burning pain tore through my back, spinning around while flying away when Gilotina tried another slash.
"Finally!" The Fury had a manic grin on her face as she shot forward and I grimaced as I felt my vision blurring for a moment.
'Shit!' Diving down to the ground as she missed her thrust, I flew straight towards the pits of Apokolips with Gilotina right on my heels.
Spinning around as I neared the ground, I narrowed my eyes and immediately stopped, surprising her for a brief moment when I kicked off the air and rushed up at her.
She desperately tried to slash at me, but I weaved and caught her arm, spinning behind her and forcing her to let go as I snapped her shoulder out of socket.
She cried as I caught the sword and drove it through her back, a burst of TTK running through the blade and tearing through her insides.
She instantly went lip and I caught her by the collar of her armour, ignoring the burning pain of the kryptonite radiation filling the air as I dropped the blade and her into a pit.
Another portal opened and caught them as I looked up, breathing heavy while staring at the approaching form of Big Barda and a glaring Granny Goodness herself.
"Sphere, can you hear me?" The sound of static was the only response I got in turn, making me sigh as I floated up towards them.
CLAP CLAP CLAP
"Marvelous work, Paragon. Truly you are a skilled fighter despite being only half of your planet's former greatest warrior." I didn't fall for Grayven's taunt, instead focused on Barda and Granny in between us. "However, while you are struggling to face us, I can't help but wonder what my brother is doing to your friends and loved ones."
"I have trust they can win without me."
"Trust is but a fool's security," he replied smoothly, stepping off his platform as two disks of light formed under his feet and kept him afloat.
"My Lord Grayven, there is no need for you to bother with this defect!" Granny Goodness growled and I frowned as she pulled some kind of box from her chest. "Allow us to-"
"No, Granny. You and your Furies had your chance. Return to my father while I take care of our guest." I watched as Granny gritted her teeth before she bowed her head, looking both enraged and embarrassed at being ordered to leave.
My eyes then drifted back to Grayven, who stood in the air with his amused smirk and a hand raised to me. Curling in all but his index finger, I narrowed my eyes when the son of Darkseid beckoned at me.
"Come then, little Kryptonian half-breed. I, Grayven, allow you to appro-!" With a kick off the air behind me, a sonic boom echoed in my wake as I shot forward and crossed the distance between us in the blink of an eye.
Swinging my fist forward with a powerful burst of my telekinesis, I watched as the platform behind him shifted and turned into a transparent shield that blocked my attack.
He flicked his finger and pointed at me, my eyes widening when the platform split into eight pieces.
Seven of the eight turned into circular saws with jagged edges while the last kept its transparent form. I didn't get to marvel at the technology as I ducked to avoid the first saw, the jagged metal whistling past close enough to shave off a few hairs.
Flicking his wrist again, the remaining six shot forward and I dove down, spinning and twisting through the air to avoid the storm of razor saws trying to split me in two.
Throwing my weight backwards, I spun and flipped to avoid two saws that tried to slice off my thighs, twisting into a corkscrew to avoid another two coming down from above.
One came close to shaving my nose off had I not leaned back, my hand snapping up and punching the side of it. A burst of telekinesis tore through the saw and shattered it, but I groaned as the shattered pieces simply reforged into one and flew back.
'Okay, shattering won't work,' I thought as I kicked off one and stopped midair to avoid another, my eyes locked onto the smug form of Grayven.
Well, if breaking them won't work, then we'll just press 'return to sender'.
Flipping over one while touching another, I froze it to my fingertip with TTK and turned to catch another, surprising Grayven as I caught all six before turning.
With a burst of TTK through them all, I cleared the distance and flung them forward the moment they exploded, giving the son of Darkseid no chance to re-take control as he immediately raised the eight pieces in front of him.
It turned into a transparent shield on its own, but the fragmented pieces still broke it. Some of the fragments cut along Grayven's skin while the rest flew away, but he looked stunned as I flew through the fragments.
Swinging a heavy fist forward, it smashed into his jaw and snapped his head to the side, continuing with a spinning axe kick that cracked into his shoulder and sent him rocketing to the ground.
"Chr-...Chris!"
"Sphere! Sphere, is that you?!" I hissed into the command circlet, relief coursing through my body.
"Y-Yes! C-...Communicat-...still not...power."
"Don't worry about that! Are the shields holding up?!"
"Just...barely..."
"Just barely is good," I replied, my eyes drifting to where Grayven was rising from the dust that obscured the crater I had buried him in.
His smirk was gone and his white hair whipped around his form, anger burning within his eyes as he glared at me.
"Listen, Sphere! Once the civilian shuttle is off and heading towards Earth, do Operation Shrapnel!"
"S-Shrapnel?"
"Yes, Shrapnel!" I replied, rolling my shoulders with a grunt.
"Affirmative!"
"Time and time again, I have been cordial, following the teachings of my father. However, I see you are too BARBARIC TO CARE!" He roared and shot up, knee smashing into my raised arms.
I grunted in surprise when the blow sent me blasting backwards, smashing through a tower and nearly into a pit had I not caught myself.
Twisting around as I heard the air pop, Grayven's drop kick missed and instead tore through a Parademon, who shrieked as it fell back down.
Spinning around, I frowned as the armour around his body grew, extending around his right and turning into an axe that nearly bifurcated me.
Stepping back before lunging forward, I ducked under his backhand swing and punched up, digging my fist into the armour covering his stomach.
It cracked under the blow, but repaired itself the moment it broke, my hand snapping out to catch his axe-arm by the wrist. My eyes locked onto the armour as the centre of it glowed, extending the metal to his knee as it came up.
Reaching out and ignoring the pain of the spike protrusion stabbing into my hand, Grayven looked surprised as my head snapped forward and smashed into the centrepiece of his chestplate.
A powerful burst of Tactile Telekinesis flowed through my skull and into it, shattering it and making me grin when I saw the axe and spike protrusion of his armour shatter.
He himself looked now more worried as he tried to fly back, but I caught his wrist while pulling my fist back.
With a roar, I swung forward over and over again, delivering punch after punch to his face before he tanked one and roared back at me.
Over and over, the skies of Apokolips shook as we threw one punch after the other, blood spilling from my mouth while his skin tore with every burst of TTK.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Manic anger burned in his eyes while mine burned with a furious rage, his heavy hook clipping my cheek and splitting my lip.
I myself took it and used the moment of his blow to spin, pulling him into an elbow straight to his throat. A gagging choke tore from his lips as I kept a tight grip on his wrist, pulling him into a knee to his jaw followed by another elbow to the top of his head.
Grabbing onto his neck, I pulled him forward and into a headbutt, cracking open both of our heads before I smashed both hands onto his ears.
He looked dazed as he drifted back right as I lunged forward and wrapped both legs around his chest. With a titanic bellow, both hands come down and smashed into the top of his skull, splitting it open and sending him rocketing towards the ground.
My legs kept a tight grip on his armour as I fell with him, driving another hammer fist into his chest just as it sparked and a Boom Tube portal opened in front of us.
We fell through and I was relieved to see Earth in the distance, the red light of Mars feeling like a sight for sore eyes.
That was when I looked up and my eyes widened, staring at the sea of ships that were slowly drifting out of the asteroid belt in the distance.
'Holy shit.' I knew Darkseid was a warlord with an armada of ships, but that...that was ludicrous.
"Chris. I feel you are closer."
"I am! Forget Operation Shrapnel, Sphere! Can you read my current location?!"
"I can."
"Good! First, send a shuttle towards me! Then, deactivate and focus all weaponry on the asteroid belt past me!"
"Orders afterwards?"
"...Annihilate all enemies in that region," I replied, grabbing onto Grayven and diving down to Mars.
"Understood!" In the distance, I could see a faint blue spark before I saw it.
Hundreds of bright star-like flashes appeared in the same spot and flew overhead as I pushed into Mars atmosphere, staring wide-eyed as the inter-planetary railguns and cannons rained fire upon the approaching ships.
The first of their armada were reduced to atoms with the first salvo, the second receiving the same treatment as did the third and the fourth.
Over and over, beams of light tore through the approaching ships and left nothing but rubble in their wake, leaving me to float in Mars' atmosphere with a relieved sigh as Sphere's voice echoed through our connection.
"Direct hits confirmed. The enemy suffered ninety-two percent structural failures within the first forty-eight seconds of salvo and have chosen to retreat."
"Good work, Sphere, and keep up the rain of fire until they are truly gone."
"Understood. The mistress wishes to know if you are okay," Sphere spoke, making me chuckle as I held Grayven's unconscious form.
"I am, Sphere. How long until that shuttle is here?"
"ETA: A day." Considering M'gann's Bio-Ship took nearly a month to get from Earth to Mars, that was astronomically faster.
"Great. In the meantime, inform everyone that I'll be returning with a...a present..." I trailed off as I stared down at Mars. It laid in ruins, craters lining its surface while flames burned away the flora.
Well...shit.
A/N: And we end it here! The first attack ends in Team Earth's victory, but how long will that last?
Next chapter: Battle of Apokolips I.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!