Pain.
Anger.
Hatred.
Mark's consciousness flickered beneath an ocean of agony. Muscles were torn to ribbons inside his body, bones were fractured and shattered, their jagged ends grinding beneath the flesh. He felt the nauseating sensation of bones moving beneath his skin, snapping forcefully back into alignment. Yet the agony persisted, unending, almost devouring his sanity. Only the fiery anger burning deep beneath his skin kept him tethered, the fury so intense it turned his blood molten, making his veins bulge like black snakes beneath his tearing skin.
"Ehhh!"
"Eahhh!"
Mark paced from side to side, his muscles bulging grotesquely, twitching and rippling uncontrollably. His casual clothes began to rip audibly as his limbs swelled to monstrous proportions, muscle fibers tearing through fabric like paper. His eyes were fixed ferociously on the creature before him—Battle Beast, who flashed a fierce grin brimming with fangs. A rumbling laughter escaped from the beast, echoing through Mark's skull and igniting his rage to an inferno.
"Yes, Mark! Yes!" Battle Beast roared with exhilaration. "This is what I wished to see! Never before have I faced a predator as fierce as you! Never has my blood quickened so intensely in all my centuries!" He stalked forward, but the instant he did, Mark's pacing stopped abruptly, and silence fell over the wrecked city. The air thickened, almost choking, as if time itself hesitated before the storm.
BOOM!
Mark exploded forward, the ground shattering violently behind him. Concrete splintered and buildings trembled, sending debris scattering like shrapnel.
"YES! COME! LET THE TRUE BATTLE BEGIN!" Battle Beast roared in wild anticipation.
Their collision obliterated the block, creating a shockwave so powerful it stripped the asphalt from the streets and blasted parked cars aside like leaves. Battle Beast caught Mark's frenzied assault, his powerful arms quivering under the strain. "Yes! Magnificent! You make my very bones shudder!" Battle Beast howled with glee, his laughter manic. "But you must do better!" He drew back and struck Mark squarely in the face, snapping his head sideways so violently that the concrete beneath them exploded outward in a spiderweb of cracks.
But Mark's scream was primal, guttural—"EAAAAHHHH!"—as he turned his head back against Battle Beast's fist, the muscles of his neck and shoulders swelling grotesquely. He pushed forward, feet digging into the concrete, driving Battle Beast backward and carving deep grooves across the ground. Battle Beast smashed through wall after wall, each impact showering them in brick and plaster until, roaring furiously, he seized Mark's sides, lifted him into the air, and power-bombed him into the earth, cratering the street deeply beneath them.
Before Mark could rise, Battle Beast's massive foot drove into his ribs, catapulting him across the pavement and through the side of a bus. Steel tore apart like paper, and Mark skidded through wreckage, grabbing hold of the torn ground to halt himself. With an animalistic roar, Mark lunged back, kicking the ruined bus toward Battle Beast. Without hesitation, Battle Beast swung his mighty hand, backhanding the bus into the upper floors of a nearby building. "COME ON, MARK! PROVE YOUR EXISTENCE!" he demanded passionately.
Mark rocketed forward, breaking the sound barrier, fist drawn back with such force that it vaporized the air around it. He slammed his punch deep into Battle Beast's stomach, folding him over and sending him hurtling down the street, blood spewing from his lips. Mark pursued instantly, raining punches down upon him relentlessly, each strike shattering bone and rupturing muscle. He punched, roared, punched again, a hurricane of rage, launching Battle Beast into the sky with an uppercut that cracked the alien's jaw audibly.
Battle Beast snarled midair, intercepting Mark's continued barrage with a headbutt that splattered both their faces with blood. They spiraled through the air, exchanging furious blows, fists slamming brutally into flesh and bone. Battle Beast clawed at Mark's face, gouging deep furrows in his skin, while Mark struck repeatedly, fracturing his knuckles against Battle Beast's dense bones.
They crashed through the roof of a skyscraper, descending violently floor by floor, locked in savage, animalistic combat. Pain surged through Mark's body as he crashed through the roof, locked in a brutal grapple with Battle Beast. Their descent ended in a catastrophic impact that shattered the floor, sending concrete and steel fragments flying in every direction. Battle Beast wasted no time. He raked his claws down Mark's back, slicing deep enough to scrape bone. Mark let out a guttural roar and twisted violently, driving his elbow into the side of Battle Beast's jaw with such force that it snapped the creature's head sideways.
Battle Beast flipped over and landed heavily on all fours, his mouth curling into a crazed grin. He sprang forward, aiming to tear Mark's throat open with his fangs. Mark met him mid-air, wrapped his arms around his opponent's waist, and hurled him downward. They plummeted together, smashing through the floor and tumbling through the levels below. Each impact destroyed everything in their path—concrete burst apart, desks splintered, and metal beams twisted. As they hit the next level, Battle Beast drove his knee into Mark's abdomen, forcing the air from his lungs. He then bit into Mark's shoulder, ripping through flesh and drawing a stream of blood. Mark screamed and grabbed Battle Beast's throat with both hands, crushing until he felt cartilage give way. Battle Beast released his bite and flung Mark to the side.
Mark skidded across the floor, crashing through walls and overturning furniture. He forced himself upright just as Battle Beast lunged again. Mark ducked, lifted him off the ground, and flung him through a thick interior wall. The wall exploded into dust and debris. Battle Beast stood up, there was as blood streaking across his face, he pressed a finger to it and licked it before smiling. Mark launched forward, screaming his fists swinging with raw power. Each punch landed with bone-breaking force. Though Battle Beast was equally as savage as he matched Marks ferocity. Claws ripped through Mark's flesh, exposing muscle and tendon. Mark seized one of Battle Beast's wrists and twisted until bones cracked.
Battle Beast responded by biting down on Mark's forearm and tearing through muscle. Mark roared, grabbed Battle Beast's neck, and pulled him in close before biting into his throat. Battle Beast slammed repeated punches into Mark's side until ribs cracked audibly. He then drove his shoulder into Mark's chest and hurled him down another floor. Mark landed hard, colliding with a support pillar that snapped in two. Battle Beast followed and crashed down with both feet on Mark's torso. Mark kicked upward, sending Battle Beast into the air, then charged forward to meet him mid-fall. He tackled him and jumped down, slamming him through yet another floor, then flung him into a concrete wall.
Battle Beast shoved Mark off him and rose with visible excitement. "Show me more, Grayson!" he bellowed.
Mark staggered up, muscles twitching violently, skin splitting where the nanites strained to keep his body together. He exploded forward. Battle Beast responded with a slash across his chest, drawing a thick spray of blood. Mark retaliated with a headbutt that flattened Battle Beast's nose. Battle Beast snarled and unsheathed his dagger and drove it into Mark's thigh, twisted it, and yanked it free. Mark ignored the pain, and grabbed Battle Beast's arm, and snapped it at the elbow. Battle Beast howled but drove his knee into Mark's chin, sending him flying backward.
Mark tore a nearby bus from the ground and used it to charge forward. Battle Beast slashed the frame apart, but Mark burst through the remnants and drove his fist into Battle Beast's throat. Battle Beast stumbled, blood pouring from his mouth, before launching forward and clawing at Mark's face. They traded blows in a savage exchange. Mark's fists shattered against Battle Beast's skull, the nanites resetting his bones between strikes. Battle Beast landed equally as powerful punches as well as slashing at him with his dagger, carving into Mark's sides and back. Mark lifted Battle Beast overhead and slammed him down, then climbed atop him and delivered a series of hammering blows. Each punch broke his arms anew, but the nanites reset them just enough to keep going.
Mark's fist connected with Battle Beast's mouth and cracked one of his fangs. Battle Beast roared, drove the dagger into Mark's side, then delivered a punch that launched him into the air. Mark stopped mid-air, pulled the dagger from his side, and hurled it in a spinning arc. It sliced off the tip of Battle Beast's ear. Battle Beast charged again, claws bared. Mark met him in another furious exchange. They grappled, slammed into each other, clawed and bit, each trying to tear the other apart. Battle Beast slashed deep into Mark's chest, then flipped and kicked him through a parked car. Mark tumbled, landed, and immediately lunged forward.
Battle Beast caught him by the throat and drove him into the pavement. Mark twisted free, grabbed Battle Beast's leg, and hurled him through a wall. He followed, tackled him mid-air, and brought him down hard. Mark mounted him again and rained punches, each one snapping bones in his arms. The nanites kept resetting the fractures, barely keeping up with the damage.
Mark shattered another fang. Battle Beast screamed, stabbed him in the ribs, then punched him off. Mark hit the ground and rolled. He forced himself to a knee, growling, the rage faltering as his strength drained. The adrenaline was wearing off. His vision blurred. His limbs trembled. He snarled and tried to rise, but his body was becoming meat. Battle Beast approached, bloodied and battered, a victorious smile spreading across his mangled face.
[Mark... Please get back up,] Eve said, her voice flickering through static. The words barely registered in Mark's mind, they felt like he was experiencing them through a long tunnel, he could only feel a whisper of them. His body refused to move. He didn't respond.
[Mark, I am unable to stimulate the production of adrenaline any longer. The adrenal medulla has been burnt out,] Eve continued. There was a pause. [Your limbs are no longer responding to neural commands.]
Mark collapsed backward, his muscles locking once more before finally giving out entirely. His body hit the ground with a dull, sickening thud, and his limbs remained outstretched, unmoving. His strength was gone. His body was slipping into systemic collapse. Nerve signals misfired. Limbs twitched without any purpose. Every breath was shallow and slow.
[Mark, I am aware that your cerebral cortex and frontal lobes are damaged. I am unsure what to do,] Eve admitted, the edge of panic beginning to creep into her synthetic voice.
Battle Beast stepped forward, his towering figure blotting out what remained of the sky above. "You pushed me further than I have been pushed in centuries, Mark Grayson," he said, not hiding the respect he felt for the boy. "Have you any more fight left in you?"
He came to a halt a few paces away from Mark's motionless body. The boy was covered in wounds—lacerations down to the bone, organs barely contained to his body, skin torn in several places. The nanites had been working overtime, yes, but Battle Beast now saw the truth. They weren't healing him. They were just holding his ruined body together, acting as crude splints for shattered bones, as scaffolding for shredded muscle. They were failing. And the moment they failed completely, so too would Mark's life.
"I see," Battle Beast muttered. "You gave all you had to me." He stared down at the boy, then let his shoulders drop and let out a slow breath. "I shall honor you for it with a swift death."
He began to approach, claws extending slowly, sharpening with each step.
[Mark!] Eve's voice cracked in desperation. There was no response, only the faint rattling of air escaping from broken lungs. [Mark... I'm so sorry...]
The seconds ticked down. She didn't wait for permission. She couldn't. Logic screamed at her. This was the only chance.
[Executive override initiated. Accessing hypothalamic lockout. Forcing override.]
[Initiating mitochondrial detonation.]
Mark's body convulsed. There was no scream—he couldn't scream. Every cell in his body ignited in unison. The nanites plunged into the cores of his cells, bypassing the standard metabolic pathways and turning every biological process into a reactor for raw power. Fat cells combusted almost instantly, vaporizing their stores. Glycogen reserves went next, followed by tissue samples from his liver and stomach lining. The nanites scavenged everything non-vital. Every molecule that could be repurposed for energy was fed into his skeletal and muscular systems. Steam hissed out from beneath his skin as his blood began to vaporize in microbursts. His heart stuttered, then kicked into a rhythm three times its normal pace. His lungs compressed and inflated with rapid precision. Muscle fibers snapped from the internal pressure and were immediately reknit by the nanites into denser, more durable strands. His bones groaned audibly beneath the strain, braced by the very sinew designed to move them.
Mark stood. There was no hesitation in the movement. No trembling. He simply stood.
Battle Beast froze mid-step. The boy's silhouette shifted upright, arms slack at his side, head still tilted forward. No words. No breath. He just stood there menacingly.
The alien blinked once. Then twice. Then a low chuckle escaped him, which became a manic laugh, rumbling deep in his throat and rolling out into the streets like thunder.
"YES! I KNEW YOU WERE THE ONE!" he roared. His fists clenched. His legs tensed. He prepared to charge.
Mark's eyes opened.
[I have restored partial cerebral function. I am currently bypassing your damaged neural pathways. Warning: I cannot repair any more of your body. If you push this system further, you will collapse.]
Mark didn't speak at first. His gaze remained fixed on the beast in front of him. But then, slowly, he grunted. "Yes."
Battle Beast howled in delight. "LET US END THIS, MARK GRAYSON! LET US MEET DEATH TOGETHER!" He launched himself forward, legs pounding into the concrete—except they didn't. The instant his feet touched the ground, something went wrong.
A pressure wave emanated from Mark's body. Not one of sound, but of silence. Everything—rubble, smoke, glass, debris—floated. Dust hung in the air, motionless.
Gravity had been annihilated.
Battle Beast's charge turned into an awkward lurch. His body kept rising, helplessly drifting into the air. He flailed. Kicked. Roared.
"NO! NO, NOT AGAIN!" he screamed, his voice cracking. "IT CANNOT END LIKE THIS AGAIN!!!"
"MARK! MARK!!!"
Mark rose slowly, drifting until he leveled with the floating alien. He extended a hand, fingers curled in concentration. A red sphere began to form, swirling with kinetic energy and particle charge, but it sputtered, the power shorting as soon as it bloomed.
[Mark, your brain is at maximum taxation. I can only help you maintain the gravity field. Additional constructs will destabilize your neural support.]
Mark growled low in his throat and tightened his fist. He vanished.
A shockwave erupted as he slammed a punch into Battle Beast's stomach. The alien wheezed, eyes bulging. Mark disappeared again, reappearing behind him, driving his elbow into the spine. Then again—from above, a knee to the neck. From below, a hammering uppercut. From the side, a crushing blow to the temple. Each hit was faster than the last. He became a blur, darting through the weightless zone like a bullet, each strike slamming Battle Beast's frame further out of alignment. Bone cracked. Muscle tore. He kept on going faster and faster until he tore up everything around him with only his movement.
Then he reappeared directly above his enemy, gripping the warlord's own mace. With a snarl, he brought it down in a savage arc, the head of the weapon colliding with the base of Battle Beast's skull. The alien's body buckled and shot downward, crashing into the ground with bone-jarring force.
Mark dropped after him. Landed. Stood over the twitching alien. He released the mace and raised his arm, ending the anti gravity field and summoning ablue sphere formed above Battle Beast's body. Its pull began immediately, but Mark negated its effects on both of them. Dust lifted first, then rubble, then entire chunks of concrete. Cars skidded across the street and rose into the air. Streetlamps twisted. Segments of ruined buildings snapped loose and spiraled upward into the vortex.
[Mark... M-M-Mark... I cannot sustain this. Neural strain is reaching catastrophic levels.]
Mark didn't reply. He poured more power into the sphere. It darkened, became a deeper colour, became more unstable. It groaned under the weight of its pull. The blue vortex tore up the street. Asphalt peeled like paper. The buildings around them cracked and buckled. Entire storefronts were ripped free and dragged into the abyss.
[MARK!!!]
Mark's arms shook. Veins bulged. Blood streamed from his nose. He held the sphere in place, pushing every ounce of his remaining strength into it.
Battle Beast stirred.
The warlord leaned up, bloodied and broken. He gazed into the heart of the vortex and smiled. "You are a true predator..."
Mark stopped.
Again there was silence.
Mark reversed polarity.
The sphere turned red.
All of the matter it had absorbed and crushed into energy was now no longer being held in by the suction of it. The sphere detonated outward. The release was violent. Cataclysmic. A blast wave expanded in all directions. The buildings around them collapsed. The pavement vanished. Light and sound merged into chaos.
Mark tried to contain it, holding up a gravity field that he hoped would counter the force.
It wasn't enough.
The explosion consumed everything. He was flung backward like a missile, crashing through several buildings of debris before slamming into the street and rolling until he came to a stop.
Silence.
His body twitched. Barely.
[Multiple organ failures detected. Liver: failing. Heart: Cardiac Failure. Neural capacity: disintegrating.]
[Mark. There is nothing more I can do. You must get help. Medical attention is required or you will die.]
Mark tried to speak. Blood bubbled up and clogged his throat. He turned his head and spat it out, coughing violently. Pain exploded through his ribcage. His vision blurred.
At least, he thought, at least he killed him.
Footsteps.
Mark's heart stopped.
He turned his head. Battle Beast walked forward, slow and steady. His fur was scorched, entire sections of it burned away. His chest bore massive holes. One of his shoulders hung loose—he popped it back in with a grunt as he approached.
He stood over Mark.
"Do you know how it feels," he said, his voice hoarse, "to be so strong that the only enemy that can beat you is time?"
"I have outlived all of them. My brothers. My sisters. My comrades. They all died in glorious battle. I alone remain."
"For centuries I raged, killing across the stars. For centuries more, I wept for those I had lost. And for centuries after that—I fought no more. None could challenge me. None could even scar me."
"Then I met you."
He knelt beside Mark.
"And I felt it again. My Blood boiling. My Heart racing. I felt alive. For the first time in thousands of years."
"You made me wonder... perhaps I was meant to live this long. To meet you. To fight you."
He placed a clawed hand over Mark's heart. The talons pierced his skin.
"Thank you Mark Grayson."
Eve tried her best, she tried to use the remaining nanites inside Marks body to shield and protect his heart and brain, but she knew it was useless. The monster before them was going to kill Mark, and no one could do anything about it.
"I will now set you to rest."
*BOOM*
The blast struck Battle Beast in the chest with the force of a train, lifting his body and slamming him down the length of the ruined street. He crashed through lamp posts and streetlights, his body bouncing twice before embedding into the side of a building and creating a deep crater in the wall. Dust exploded outward. He grunted, blinking through the haze as he looked up. A woman floated in the air, her body surrounded by a shimmering violet field of energy.
Raven descended, eyes locked on Mark's broken body.
"Mark!" she called as she dropped beside him, crouching. Her hands reached out, brushing his chest. Her power extended through his flesh and bone. She could feel the internal hemorrhaging, the shattered ribs, the punctured lung, the failing heart. He was falling apart. She pressed her palm to his chest, the other cradling his neck. Her eyes glistened as she reached deeper, trying to stabilize his condition. "I can't let him die here."
From the crater, Battle Beast rose slowly. "Woman... you dare interrupt?" he growled. "This boy has earned a warrior's end. Do not rob him of it."
"SILENCE!" Raven's voice tore through the street, a concussive wave of purple force blasting from her body and smashing into Battle Beast. The ground cracked under his heels as he slid back several meters. He planted a foot and narrowed his eyes.
He stepped forward again. "Who are you to challenge me?"
"I am Raven. And that man is my husband."
Battle Beast chuckled, then laughed outright. "Of course. Only a woman would be blind to what he's achieved. He dies today. Move aside."
"If you take one more step toward him, I will strip the flesh from your bones and break every bone in your body," Raven said. Her aura pulsed violently. She gestured with her hand and summoned a shield, Mark's body was encased in a tight field of protection.
Battle Beast laughed again. "A good woman indeed. Perhaps I'll keep you once he's dead."
Raven didn't answer. She raised her hand and two blasts of dark energy slammed into Battle Beast's torso. He raised his arms to block them but kept running. She intensified the power, driving him to a halt. With a twist of her fingers, the energy curled around his limbs like bindings. She clenched both fists and yanked. Battle Beast flew sideways into the side of a building, smashing through the wall and crashing through several floors. As he fell back down, Raven raised both hands and with telekiniss threw rocks , slabs of concrete, crushed cars, bus frames—she hurled them in a ruthless barrage.
Battle Beast burst out of the pile, covered in blood and debris, roaring. He barreled through the falling wreckage, his fists swinging and breaking apart everything in his path. Raven opened her arms and summoned a dome of energy that exploded outward and flattened the surrounding area and forced Battle Beast to a crawl. He forced himself through it, snarling, and jumped. Raven teleported through a portal midair, reappearing behind him and blasting his spine. He grunted and twisted, hurling a piece of stone the size of a desk at her. She raised a shield. It cracked but held. He used that as a distraction however and tackled through it a moment later, his fist crashing through the barrier and striking her chest. She flew backward, skipped across the pavement, and crashed into the wreckage of a crushed car. Her arm hung limp. Blood leaked from her mouth.
Battle Beast turned toward Mark. Raven forced herself up. Her ribs burned. Her eyes widened.
"No... No no no no no." Her eyes flashed purple.
She screamed and flew towards him. He looked back, but he was too slow. Her fist, which was covered in cracking dark energy, smashed into his face and drove him into the ground. She didn't let up. She hit him again. And again. Each blast staggered him further. She flew around him, launching more energy blasts. He tried to rush her, but a portal opened beneath his feet and he dropped a meter before she created a large pruple construct in the shape of a hammer and slammed it into his upper chest which put the alien on his back.
She summoned a massive orb of compressed energy above her head, the weight of it dragging the air around it downward like a collapsing star. She hurled it down with both arms. The impact was immediate. A thunderous explosion rocked the block, sending chunks of road, shredded vehicles, and shattered glass in all directions. A wave of heat followed. Raven hovered in place, her chest rising and falling quickly. Her arms trembled from the effort. Her hands flickered with residual energy. She descended slowly, scanning the blackened crater below.
'Is he dead?' she thought, eyes narrowing. She extended her hand and blasted the dust aside with a sharp burst of telekinesis. For a moment, there was only silence.
Then—movement. A blur. A roar.
Battle Beast erupted from the crater like a missile, his eyes bloodshot, his skin blackened and peeling. He charged with his fist cocked back. Raven threw up a barrier, then another, then a third. The first cracked on impact. The second buckled. The third held for two strikes before Battle Beast shattered through it, forcing Raven to reinforce it with overlapping walls of raw telekinetic pressure. Her forearms burned as she poured her strength into holding them steady.
He hammered down again. Her knees buckled. She gritted her teeth, pain shooting through her side as old injuries reopened. She pushed back, blasting him with an outward pulse of force that staggered him just enough to buy a moment.
"You are strong," Battle Beast growled, pulling back and circling slowly. "There is something inside you. Like there is inside of Mark... A demon."
He charged again. She threw up another barrier, but the strike knocked her down to one knee. Her ribs cracked. Her hand pressed into the ground for stability.
"I will take you when this ends," he said. "You belong beside strength. Beside me."
As she knelt there, only a few moments away from her barrier being destroyed she could hear something on the back of her mind.
*Use it.*
*You have the power.*
*He is but an insect.*
*Daughter...*
Her breathing slowed. Her heart didn't. Her skin flushed a deeper red as her soul self stirred. Another set of eyes opened above her brow, glowing with cold, pure fury. Battle Beast threw another punch, this time to her head.
It landed.
Her body didn't move.
The barrier didn't flicker. Her eyes stayed locked on his.
She stood up.
Then her arm rose, and the air ignited. A column of violet flame roared from her palm, engulfing Battle Beast entirely. It didn't stop burning. The road beneath him melted. The walls of nearby buildings began to warp and soften from the heat. Raven didn't blink. She fed more energy into the flames until the smell of scorched metal and ash filled the air.
She finally stopped. The light faded. Smoke curled up from the pit.
Battle Beast stood. His fur was gone. His skin was blackened. His muscles twitched. But he was still standing.
She clenched her fist and wrapped a telekinetic field around him. He floated upward. She drove him into the street hard enough to crack the foundation beneath. Then she threw him through the husk of a van. Then a traffic light. Then into the side of a shattered cement barrier. She opened a portal and dropped him into the air above her. When he fell back down, she raised a spike of energy from the ground and skewered him through the torso. Blood sprayed from the wound. The warlord roared.
Behind her, Mark let out a hoarse, choking groan.
She turned instantly, flying toward him. His shield flickered. She reached to reinforce it—
"DON'T LEAVE YOURSELF OPEN!"
Battle Beast's fists slammed into her spine. She hit the pavement hard, teeth snapping together, and tumbled. She pushed herself up, her chest heaving, as Battle Beast landed next to her and charged again. She raised a barrier, reinforcing it with both hands as he punched down.
"Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos!"
A massive raven burst from her chest, a colossus of wings and energy that screamed as it dove at Battle Beast. Its talons tore across his chest, gouging deep into his flesh. Its beak opened and fired a beam of violet force directly into his shoulder. Bone cracked. The warlord stumbled.
Battle Beast grabbed one of its wings and slammed the raven-form into the ground, but it rebounded, shrieking again. Raven joined the assault, reappearing above him and smashing both fists, reinforced by telekinetic armor, into his back. He stumbled into the energy avatar again. She teleported to his left, slammed a palm into his ribs, and released a powerful blast of energy into it. Then to his right, punching his jaw, then pulling it back down with her telekinesis and punching it again. He swung blindly. But she was teleporting around him multiple times a second
He turned and roared. The raven lashed him across the back with its wings. Raven caught his wrist with her telekinesis as he swung, hurling him through the raven's chest. The soul-self caught him in midair, wrapped its wings around him, and tightened.
He screamed.
She hovered in front of him, eyes gull of wrath. She pressed her hands together and unleashed a full-bodied blast of energy directly into his chest a blast that was thicker than the entire street and taller than a third story building. The explosion tore through the air. His body flew back, twisting violently as he was tossed nearly twenty miles away.
He crashed into the center of the street, cratering the ground.
Nolan turned. Anissa paused. Superman stepped forward. Wonder Woman raised her sword. Galatea just raised her eyebrows in confusion.
Battle Beast rose slowly.
And laughed.
Needless to say both parties were confused, the Justice league more so as they had not seen this alien before.
Nolan was the first to recover. "Did you acquire Mark?" He asked Battle Beast.
Battle Beast turned to the Viltrumite and laughed some more. "Mark will soon be dead, he has earned that much from me, he fought like a true warrior!"
"That is not what we agreed!" Nolan spat out as he clenched his fists. "I expected a man such as yourself to honour your word."
Battle Beast stopped laughing. "Honour is why I will kill him, to do anything less would dishonour him."
*SLAM*
They were all distracted when a person landed on the street beside the members of the justice league. Everyone turned to look and once the dust faded they saw that it was in fact Superboy, his eyes glowing red with his heat vision.
But he wasn't alone.
*SLAM*
Wonder Girl was next, and then Red Tornado and then both Robins and then the members of Batmans new team. All of them arrived and now surrounded the Viltrumites and battle beast. Even Zatara had arrived through a portal and was ready to fight against them.
Nolan growled and his fists clenched, they had not gotten the information they needed and Mark had not been captured. "We are retreating," Nolan growled to both of them.
Anissa sneered at him. "You coward! If you wish to leave you can, I will not run away again!"
"The woman is right, I have no wish to leave either," Battle Beast said with a fierce grin, he'd never had so much fun than he had today.
"This isn't a discussion, we are leaving now! There is nothing more to gain from this," Nolan said to them as he floated off the ground. "If you expect for me to keep my promise Battle Beast then you will listen to me."
Battle beast snarled at Nolan. "Fine..." he muttered.
"What makes you think we will just let you leave!" Superboy shouted at them.
Nolan turned to the young Kryptonian. "While it's true that we are injured and surrounded, if you attack us then I will target all of the people who don't have your durability Kryptonian."
"I will tear them in half and shower you with their blood, is that worth it?" He asked.
Superboy grit his teeth and clenched his fists, he wanted nothing more than to punch the man in the face and was going to.
"Stand down Superboy," Batman said stepping in front of them.
"Let them go," Batman said in a cold tone.
Nolan smiled "At least one of you knows better," he said before picking up Battle Beast and shooting off into the sky. Anissa moved over to Lucan before pulling out the trident and grabbing him before following Nolan.
Gotham was devastated, thousands of people were dead, and both sides felt like they'd gained nothing.
(AN: So that's the end of the big fights, how many of you expected Raven to fight Battle Beast. She's pretty op tbh, I'd like to think now that Trigon is dead she is even stronger as she is not able to be corrupted by his powers. But yeah I hope you guys enjoyed it. Next chapter is the last one of the arc. I hope you enjoyed it).
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