Castle of Darkseid:
Slipping from the shadows of the castle as several Parademons flew through the front entrance, Batman dropped to the floor before hiding behind one of its many pillars.
'They're focused on the attacks outside. Good.' Moving from shadow to shadow, he slowly worked his way from the entrance hall up to the second floor.
Turning the corner, he threw a Batarang and watched as it whistled past a Parademon, whom immediately attacked it as he slipped up into the rafters.
Leaping from beam to beam as the Parademon pummelled the Batarang, he dropped down and landed on its back just as the demon turned to look at him.
Slamming both knuckles into the back of its neck, the beast shrieked as electricity erupted from his knuckles and into its body.
It twitched with a subtle spark before falling forward, allowing Batman to roll from its body and rush down the hallway to where the Parademons had just left.
Peeking into the room, his eyes narrowed as he saw none but Darkseid sitting on a throne. Maneuvering into the room in the blink of an eye, he stood in the shadows and waited.
"You need not hide from my gaze, denizen of the dark," Darkseid spoke as his eyes opened, staring directly at the shadows Batman was hiding in.
In return, the man remained still, making Darkseid narrow his eyes before they began to glow with an ominous red. Immediately taking out his grappling gun in response, he fired and pulled himself out of the way as the bending beam missed him, instead impacting the wall.
Landing a few feet away from the stairway to the throne, he watched as the New God rose from said throne. Slowly descending step by step, Batman retreated in turn step by step, still holding the god's gaze.
"You and your companions have fought with great fury. For humans, that is."
"That is what happens when you take the people we swore to protect," Batman replied, backing up until Darkseid stood at the foot of the steps.
"Then you will find that you have risked your lives for nothing." Batman kept quiet at Darkseid's response, eyes flicking to the shadows of the room. "Our technology is far too advanced for you or your kind to revert the effects."
"Many have said that and yet, we've proven them wrong every time."
"Then show me. Let me show you what we do to your humans." The dark knight followed the direction the tyrant pointed to and his shocked gaze was well hidden by his mask as he watched a Parademon step from the shadows next to the throne.
"What is that?"
"Your precious citizens. This is what's left of them after they have been plunged into the pits of Apokolips and placed under the teachings of Granny Goodness." The creature in question let out a low growl, making Batman turn his glare to Darkseid as the tyrant smirked.
"So, this is how you raise your army? By subjugating others and making them subservient by turning them into these monstrosities?"
"These are not monstrosities nor will they ever be human again. They are my loyal servants, the vanguard of my army that would tear down your civilization if it meant that my kingdom would grow." Batman clenched his fists as Darkseid waved for the former human-now-Parademon to disappear back into the shadows.
"We've gotten rid of your mind-control once and while we do nto possess the technology to revert the effects of your pits, we humans are a tenacious bunch that would not rest until we can."
"That is, if you survive this battle!" His eyes glowed an ominous red and twin beams of crimson light flew from his eyes, bending and twisting through the air.
Just as it was about to impact him, the ceiling collapsed and large rocks fell in between them, causing the beams to explode against them.
Two heavy thuds echoed alongside the noise of the falling rubble as the dust settled, Darkseid narrowing his eyes at the sight of Paragon and Wonder Woman standing in front of Batman.
"The fake Kryptonian."
"And the tyrant that ran. Good to see you aren't pissed about losing your children."
"Their loss merely showed me that they were not fit to rule my army."
"Then, you're going to have to say the same about your 'Furies' and the silver guy with the axe outside," Chris replied with a shrug, to which Darkseid scoffed as he placed his hands behind his back.
"So, Steppenwolf failed to repay his debt, then. No matter. I shall deal with them shortly after I have dealt with you." Red light erupted from the tyrant's eyes as Chris shot forward, his TTK gathering in a dense layer around his fists as he punched the first beam.
Unleashing a shockwave of concussive force and heat just a second before the blast could impact his knuckles, Chris cancelled out the first beam with a thunderous explosion.
Barely twisting to avoid the second beam as the explosion knocked him back, Wonder Woman kicked up a piece of rubble to block the blast instead.
At the same time, her left bracelet glowed and a shield with the face of a Medusa formed on its front. She held it to Darkseid who fired a beam in return, blocking the blast as Chris recovered.
Batman on the other hand was moving from shadow to shadow, throwing a trio of Sonic Batarang that exploded with a high-pitch shriek the moment they hit the ground behind Darkseid.
The tyrant flinched at the sudden sharp noise and controlled one beam to bend around his body, destroying all three Batarangs. At the same time, the man raised his arm to block the punch from Paragon.
The ground cracked beneath their feet from the shockwave of their clash, Wonder Woman slipping out from behind him and swinging her sword.
It left a shallow cut along the tyrant's raised arm that Paragon immediately grabbed into a lock, flipping over it and pulling the arm with it as Wonder Woman smashed her shield into the tyrant's legs.
They buckled under the force and allowed Paragon to lift him overhead before the Kryptonian clone slammed him back into the ground with a growl.
At the same time, Diana swung her shield down, but our eyes widened as a pair of Omega Beams erupted from his eyes and sent us flying in opposite directions.
Flipping over in the air, Chris landed on his feet, but was unprepared for the monstrous fist of Darkseid to smash into mhis chest. The wind was knocked from his lungs and spittle flew from his lips as he was sent flying.
Bulldozing through a stone pillar, the world spun around the clone while he tried to figure out up from down. Unfortunately, Darkseid didn't give him the time to do so as his shadow appeared above him, the tyrant smashing his fist down onto the clone's head.
However, Paragon barely dodged the attack and swung a leg, which connected to the side of his head and made him stumble back. Kip-upping to his feet, the Kryptonian shot forward and drove both knees into his chest, sending him sliding back.
"Do not forget about me!" Diana growled as her arms wrapped around his midsection from behind and Paragon grinned, rushing forward to stop him from grabbing at her.
Closing the distance in a fraction of a second, the Kryptonian drove a heavy TTK-packed punch straight into his jaw as Diana grunted and fell back.
With a roar, Diana slammed him head first into the ground with a German Suplex as Paragon came down with an elbow drop, burying his head deeper.
The flash of red from his buried head however forced them both to immediately back away as a powerful Omega Beam freed his head, the blast continuing on to vaporise the ceiling above them and leave nothing but the skies of Apokolips above our heads.
"Time and time again, you persistent gnats have tested my patience in your attempts to fight against your true calling," The tyrant growled as he floated up from the ground, hands once again behind his back, "and time and time again, I have allowed you to indulge yourself. No more."
Another flash of red was all they received before Paragon leaned back, barely avoiding the Omega Beam that nearly took his head off.
Kicking off the ground and leaping to the side with a corkscrew to avoid it again, he watched as the blast curved before his eyes locked onto Diana dodging the other beam.
"Diana!" Rushing towards her, she looked to him before her eyes widened as he grinned and flicked his eyes for a moment to Darkseid's floating form.
"Understood!" With a nod, she rushed towards him, the two crossing the distance between them with the beams right on their tails.
Just as they were about to pass each other, Paragon kicked off the ground and grabbed her forearm as she grabbed his, pulling the two of them off the ground while spinning in between the gap of the two beams.
The Omega Beams bent in turn and went back to them, but Paragon flung Wonder Woman towards Darkseid as he himself flew towards him.
"Foolish," the tyrant growled as he unleashed two more Omega Beams, but his eyes widened as Wonder Woman slid under them and in between his legs.
"Now!" Hopping to her feet behind him, Wonder Woman leapt and dropkicked the tyrant in the back, sending him flying forward right into Paragon as the clone dipped and twisted between the four beams.
The Omega Beams in question turned and flew directly at their creator, exploding with a resounding boom that shook the walls of the room and caused parts of it to collapse.
"Nice," Paragon spoke and Wonder Woman nodded as the two waited for the dust to settle. It didn't get a chance to as Darkseid swept away the dust with a wave of his hand, glaring at the two heroes that stood waiting.
"How much longer?"
"She still needs ti-!" With a roar, the behemoth of a New God interrupted Paragon and charged forward, closing the distance in between the two of them while swinging a heavy punch.
Paragon dipped under it while Wonder Woman flipped over his punch, kicking at the tyrant's head as Paragon delivered a rising uppercut to his chest.
The air trembled as the blows landed, but Darkseid just growled before he reached out and grabbed onto their limbs.
Spinning and slamming them both into the ground, Wonder Woman turned and kicked off of Paragon's side, pushing them both out of the way of the Omega Beams that tore through the ground.
Using the grip Darkseid had on his leg as leverage, Paragon twisted and landed a vicious kick to the tyrant's jaw, leaving him open to Wonder Woman's punch from the other side.
The punch shook the ground and Darkseid's grip loosened on their limbs, to which each pulled their limbs from his grasp and flipped away.
"I'm ready!"
"Diana, now!" Paragon shouted as he leapt away, Wonder Woman doing the same as darkness leapt from the shadows. Darkseid snarled as the tendrils wrapped around his limbs and body, pulling him to a knee.
"Darkseid, eh? You treat me well, daughter." Paragon felt a chilling sense of fear crawling up his spine as Raven slowly floated down through the open ceiling.
However, she looked nothing like herself as her skin was a blood red, her eyes a deep crimson with an extra pair of eyes underneath the original while the red gem on her forehead had enlarged.
"YOU!" Darkseid snarled and Raven chuckled as demonic tentacles flew from her gem, wrapping around the limbs of Darkseid and lifting him from the ground.
"Yes, me. The Chaos Lord with me has grown boring, but don't worry. You'll be a great replacement to help me pass the time," Trigon hissed, dragging the roaring New God through Raven's gem and to the other side.
The girl in question gasped as her skin turned pale once more and her extra eyes vanished, Paragon flying through the air and catching her falling form.
"Rae?" He asked softly, looking concerned as Raven slowly opened her eyes before she smiled.
"Hey. Did I do anything wrong?"
"Heh, no. You did perfect," he whispered, kissing her forehead before turning as an alarm rang from the throne.
"We'll need to leave," Batman spoke as he walked down the steps to the throne. "With Darkseid gone, I've done my best to ensure that the enemy would not try and attack us again."
"What of the humans?" Wonder Woman asked, Paragon's eyes drifting to the throne where he noticed a blinking row of red lights on the throne and under it.
"They've been turned into the very things we've been fighting," Batman replied and Wonder Woman grimaced before she nodded.
"Are you ready to go, Paragon, Raven?"
"Ready to go whenever," he replied, looking at Raven who nodded.
"Then, let's go."
A/N: And we end it here! Like I said, a quick ending with the same ending as Apokolips War. Why? Because like I said from the beginning of the story, this will have the same ending as Apokolips War.
Anyway, next chapter: Repairs and Aftermath.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!