Chain 192: Superman, the Animated Series

Chain 192: Superman, the Animated Series

Location: Metropolis
Age: 34
Identity: Drop-In, Hero
Drawbacks: [+600] Oath Against Killing, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, Nemesis, The Main Man
Scenario: Die For Darkseid

[Free]      The Life of Bibbo
[300/1600]  Anti-Life Immunity
[400/1600]  Doomed Planet
[500/1600]  Desperate Scientists
[600/1600]  Last Hope
[600/2200]  Power Gratuity: Hero (+600)
[1200/2200] Sane Science
[1600/2200] Heat Vision
[2200/2200] Mad Science

There is a great deal one could say about my time here. There are a great deal of megacorporations in this world, and mine joined them. The world changed for the better, with the technologies I helped bring in, with the people I aided.

The Justice League formed, as it tends to do, and many heroes helped the world. I wasn't one of them, unfortunately, since it was mostly just the Big Seven; they saw me as something of a discount Batman, considering what I worked with was generally high technology. Not quite 'sufficiently advanced technology' level, but certainly high. And using the technological advancements I had here I was able to redesign some of the more exotic systems that Hyperion had been upgraded with; that's likely to be a perpetual project, in honesty.

I didn't kill anyone, though many times they may have deserved it. Being who I am - what I am - I can almost always find another way. There were many who became a constant thorn in my side. I left Metropolis a year in as I didn't want to step on Superman's toes, but Opal City, New England, proved to be a place that needed a hero. Apparently Star Man handles this place in many worlds, but as he isn't in this particular one, Sovereign took care of it instead. Of course this meant I inherited many of those who would have been HIS enemies. Mist foremost, and I'm quite shocked how versatile someone can be when their primary ability is to turn into overglorified steam, but also Copperhead, Bolt, Deadline, Blockbuster... even Lobo, and boy wasn't THAT a fun thing to discover, the interstellar bounty hunter who I'd already met in a previous jump who still was after me.

Yay continuity, I suppose.

Speaking of continuity, Apokolips caused a great many problems. Sure, Superman dealt with some of it early on, but it became a massive issue again, and not long after its inception the League sent a mission to try and hit them, to deal with it and return the outworlders that had infiltrated Metropolis with Intergang; they left the world in the hands of other heroes, the beginnings of an expanded Justice League. Considering the boom tube from their hijacked Father Box never brought them back, however, it's safe to say they miscalculated quite gravely.

Six weeks later, the world was optimistic that the Justice League had found its way back from where it had gone when a boom tube appeared over Metropolis. Those hopes turned to fears when more tubes opened. Over Metropolis. Over Gotham. Over Star City. Over Opal City. Hordes of parademons began to pour forth without warning - my precognition had failed me here, completely and totally.

I wasn't the only one who was fighting, but considering who had come through... parademons would only be the first wave. Parademons are purpose-created servitors; my brass eye sees not even the barest sliver of a soul, and considering what's going on now there's no point trying to downplay what I'm capable of. Until now, I'd been scaling my abilities to what exists locally, keeping my tinkering with my gear hidden. But now there's no need to hide the fact that my proper armor has been upgraded with palladian and mithrite, that my weapons were more advanced than most things this universe knew.

Well. Perhaps not more advanced than New God tech.

Regardless... when I need to be, I can be in several places at once. From one to seven, all in touch as a hivemind, even if each of the six's skill varied compared to my own. Most are better versed to direct combat, though one is an exception - the artificer among my clones is better suited for building an army of upgraded Pantheon for rapid deployment. Sure, they're not the most advanced things, but neither are parademons - Apokolips' numbers darken the skies, but my resources are limited only by time. Legions of airborne Pantheon poured out from Opal City, slowly beginning to take things back. The other five clones and myself began striking at Darkseid's lieutenants. Most of them are the usual suspects - Granny Goodness and her Furies, Steppenwolf, Desaad... many others, splitting the duties of conquest across the face of the Earth. But apparently a handful of lieutenants I hadn't known had struck first and struck fast, neutralizing many of Earth's heroes. Most of them, in fact, in the hours leading up to the invasion. And it wasn't long until I found out why.

Earth's mightiest heroes had been broken, turned to serve Darkseid's will. All were clad in black, though Superman was the worst, carving Metropolis apart with his heat vision and shattering buildings with strength enhanced beyond normal. Wonder Woman was clad in spiked armor, striking Themyscira. Batman was working alongside Granny Goodness, striking at the most vulnerable points of the infrastructure after taking down Supergirl and a few others. Green Lantern... Hal Jordan's power ring had been subverted, and he was in a constant state of agony as crackling constructs wreaked havoc - the more pain he was in, the more destruction was sown. Aquaman was outright boiling the oceans. And on it went.

And standing behind them all, Darkseid. His hands behind his back, watching it all happen impassively.

To have known them all as the paragons they were, then to see them all shattered and rebuilt in the image of a monster... it was horrifying in a way that I've seldom seen in my years of existence. I don't have the words to properly describe the despair that overcame me when I realized the full magnitude of what was going on.

Nor do I have the words to describe the rage that overcame me in that moment. I have seen a great many things - who on such a journey hasn't - but to feel the rage built to the point that an unreal clarity of mind washed over me. I honestly don't recall getting so angry that my rage outright broke.

After that, though... I got to work. Whatever means Darkseid was using to invade the planet, it rendered time travel impossible. But anything else at my disposal - using my powers to form weapons to short out Superman's powers. Alchemy to create Green K, Molecular Manipulation to craft an appropriate weapon from whole cloth, and suddenly green lasers of death shoot forth to shred his Apokalyptan armor and send him plummeting to the surface a mile below, powerless and dying. One of my clones teleports below to catch him, but I am already gone, flying at dozens of times faster than the speed of sound to intercept the next target.

Wonder Woman... well, her bracelets were gone, which somehow put her in a perpetual state of rage. But that's okay - I ambushed her, teleported with her to space... and about a minute later, once she was unconscious, teleported back to the surface of the planet. Another clone dealt with her, securing her and seeing to her medical treatment, after she was bound by Prometheum chains. Aquaman was harder to get the drop on, but rushing him with the other three unoccupied clones was enough to keep him busy long enough to knock him out. He got the same treatment.

Going to the remains of Coast City, Hal Jordan... I regret what I had to do to neutralize him, but in the interests of expedience, I simply crafted a buzzsaw out of gold with molecular manipulation and cut his hand off. Without that... well, he was easy to handle.

The Martian Manhunter was a madman aflame and rampaging anywhere he could be, his mind broken and glorying in the destruction he caused in Darkseid's name as the Burning Martian. But I, too, can be on fire - immune to his psychic nightmares and his physical attacks, his shapeshifting is all he can use against me. Trapping him in an overextended bubblehead charm extinguishes the fire, and the lack of oxygen causes him to lose consciousness. He, too, is taken with the others.

I did not actually intend to fight the Flash, but he intercepted me. He was calling himself the Black Racer, and of everyone, he was the one who was most capable of doing damage to me. I kept him engaged in clone combat, until he could be neutralized. Not by me, but by a trap carved out by his own Rogues and one of Batman's - they'd been fighting the parademons until flights of Pantheon started dealing with the monsters, and the Flash found it particularly hard to deal with being caught off guard by people who are otherwise a running joke, then frozen by Captain Cold and Mr. Freeze. Fortunate, then, that my clones were able to coordinate them. Especially on short notice.

Running from the Flash's stomping grounds to Gotham, I found Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon both in civilian clothes, trying to fight a Batman equipped with Apokalyptan tech. They weren't the only ones, but were the most active. And perhaps were the only heroes that hadn't been neutralized in advance. I leapt in and helped - technopathy failed to subvert or disable what he used, and so it fell to brute force. Every blow that rained upon him by the three of us was carefully calculated to damage his equipment. The fight was far more formidible than I could have expected. But in the end... well, Barbara and Dick took the unconscious Bruce away. They were, after all, best equipped to contain him and return him to health.

After that... well, that left Darkseid's proper forces. And to them, I was less merciful. I pulled my blows for the most part, but my clones and I teleported around the world and used every resource and power at our disposal. Typically they got knocked through an open boom tube, but unlike the broken heroes... I made sure that they were quite crippled. Considering who they were - what they were - that usually meant a protracted battle.

The first warning I had that I had attracted Darkseid's ire was the feeling of impending doom. My precognition, as I had stated, was completely shot throughout this fight. Instead I had to rely on pure instinct. Seeing the Omega Beams lancing toward me out of the corner of my eye, I immediately teleported. They shifted toward my new location, so I kept teleporting when I wasn't running, trying desperately to figure out a plan. And of course, in the end, there was only one plan worth engaging in.

When my clones were able to pinpoint the location of Darkseid himself, I teleported to him. Now... if you've never seen Darkseid before, words won't do him justice. The creature looks to have been carved out of stone, and even without enhanced senses, one could FEEL the evil radiating off of him. But priorities had to be kept in line. I had scant seconds to address him.

"It is necessary for me to know whether there is one of you throughout the multiverse or many," I said to him, as the red beams of death came for me.

His features twisted, his grimace hardening. "You do not met know me, worm," his bass voice ground out. As he spoke, I teleported from in front of him to behind him, but the omega beams split around him and came toward me. Not what I planned, but hoisting Darkseid by his own petard is likely not simple to do; I teleported away again, and went with Plan B. Snag one of the remaining parademons and let them absorb the Omega Sanction, before teleporting back to the tyrant that seemed unbothered by my disappearance. He continued to speak, now that I was back. "I know you. You have, and will, sacrifice worlds to delay me to no avail. There are uncountable worlds, uncountable universes. Through them all, there is one constant."

The tyrant of Apokolips then smiled. Smiled! That, in itself, disturbed me most. "In the fullness of time... you will come to understand. You will learn what fear is. You will learn what pain is. You will learn... that Darkseid IS."

I considerd responding, but instead, I figured expediency was the most effective route to take. The Black Barrel found its way into my hand, and Darkseid stood there as I blurred, bringing it to bear on him, firing. The weapon's strike piercing his body... only to stop before it had done more than left a pockmark in his skin. The bullet fell to the ground, spent. I tossed the weapon to one side, quickly going through my inventory to find something effective as I tried to use more esoteric powers against him, but telekinesis saw him unmoved, briefly conjured magic splashing off him like water off a duck's back. The only other thing I had that might do some sort of damage was my saber - I quickly drew and ignited it, and unlike the Black Barrel, the golden beam elicited a reaction out of him. His smile and optimism, gone, replaced with anger.

"You dare," came his voice, deceptively soft. And then he swung, his motion so fast that I barely caught it, even with my own enhanced speed. The saber tumbled from my hands as I flew through the air, sent flying for blocks. THROUGH the blocks. Physical invulnerability is helpful against such collateral damage... but his strike hurt. Immensely.

By the time I was able to begin picking myself back up, he was already looming over me. Stomping me into the ground, creating a crater. And when he'd stopped stomping, I felt my bones knitting themselves back together, only to see him looming over me. His parademons were on the run, but he was unbothered by that. Unbothered by the firepower being rained down on him by the Pantheon on the wing, taking just a moment to lash out with his Omega Beams, shattering them in the skies by the dozens. When his attention turned back to me, all I could do was use a weapon I hadn't yet - I had my own heat vision, and it proved strong enough to blind him, if only momentarily. But that was long enough for me to get away from him for a few moments. Long enough to find my saber.

Long enough for me to run back to him at top speed, feint with a teleport, and slash through the Father Box at his side with the prismatic saber. His roar of anger and pain was music to my ears, but I wouldn't fool myself to think that would be effective. Fortunately... the Father Box being destroyed caused a boom tube to open, as a failsafe. As I had hoped.

Long enough for me to reappear behind him, plant my feet to keep myself anchored, and hit him with everything I had. Double-handed banishing charms. Telekinetic pushing. Striking with all my strength. Sending him off his feet and into the boom tube.

"You're God damned right I dare, you son of a bitch," I breathed, gulping for breath as he tumbled through the air, falling toward Apokolips, howling with rage.

After that came the rebuilding. The parademons had not killed nearly as many people as had been expected, and many of those who had been killed were willing to be resurrected. Epic level Healer spells are good for something, after all. The physical rebuilding was more difficult, but... well, Earth was more aware of threats.

It took a lot of time to fix the heroes. Some were easier than others. Bruce bounced back surprisingly well. Clark... he took a lot of time off. Spent it back at the farm. Diana went back to Themyscira for five years, until she returned.

I fixed Hal's hand and he was taken to Oa - his ring was shot, but they issued him a new one after a very thorough debriefing. After that... well, it's safe to say no one ever heard him say "stand back, Green Lantern's got this" ever again.

The Justice League was given a new mandate by the UN, as it had been a fledgeling organization up to that point, and its ranks swelled. Orbital defenses were put in place, and while some laws were passed regarding metahumans, they were shockingly common sense.

A lot of villains that had been around prior to the invasion were given a clean slate. Not all of them took advantage of that, but some did. A few of the Flash's rogues turned hero, notably.

Nora Fries was taken out of suspended animation and cured - I'd meant to get to that but never had a chance. Viktor couldn't be cured... but he turned away from villainy and worked on science, because Nora was alive and well.

It also turns out that the array of modified Scranton dimensional anchors built into Earth's satellites and emplaced upon its surface are effective in preventing boom tube apertures from opening within a very large radius, the precise range of which is highly classified. No one needs to know that only one would be needed to keep a boom tube from opening within Lunar orbit, when multiple overlapping fields are stronger.

Above all that that... I worry. I plan. A weapon I carry that was meant to kill gods barely scratched him.

I did not know Darkseid but by reputation, but Darkseid knew me. He knew this confrontation would happen. He knew I would be unprepared.

He will not find me unprepared when next we meet.

I swear that I will carve every one of his avatars out of this universe before I cast him screaming into the abyss.