Cough, cough! Silas Stone, thrown across the room, coughed violently. As an ordinary human, it was a miracle he wasn't killed instantly by the impact.
"Dad! Are you okay?" Victor Stone rushed over to his father, concern etched across his face as he helped him to his feet.
Cough! "I'm fine... But we can't let him take the Mother Box!" Silas rasped, his gaze locking onto Steppenwolf, who now held the Mother Box firmly in his grasp.
"You're not getting away!" Victor snarled, firing a sonic blast at Steppenwolf. The blast momentarily halted Steppenwolf, but only for an instant.
"You're an interesting one," Steppenwolf remarked, looking Victor up and down with a mix of curiosity and disdain. "You're... flawed. A cheap imitation, perhaps? Blessed by the Mother Box, yet cursed all the same."
Just as Steppenwolf was about to say more, the laboratory doors burst open. A figure charged in, lightning trailing in their wake, striking Steppenwolf and forcing him back. The electricity momentarily paralyzed him.
The attacker was none other than Clarie, who had invoked the power of Shazam to transform. She had taken advantage of Steppenwolf's distraction to launch her attack. However, despite her swift strike, Steppenwolf remained largely unharmed.
After learning of the invasion through J.A.R.V.I.S., Clarie had quickly located Steppenwolf's position and made her move. Her aim wasn't to defeat him outright but to delay him until reinforcements arrived.
J.A.R.V.I.S. had already informed the Avengers, but with their forces scattered across New Earth and both Robert and Kara absent, it would take time for anyone to return.
Clarie's attack was followed by the arrival of automated suits of armor, swarming into the lab to suppress Steppenwolf with heavy firepower. The laboratory staff wisely stayed out of the fray, understanding the risk of engaging an unknown threat directly.
One specialized suit enveloped Silas Stone, whisking him away to a medical pod for treatment, which brought Victor some relief.
"Machines, huh? Do you think mere mechanical constructs can challenge me?" Steppenwolf sneered as the suits unleashed their attacks. While the sheer volume of firepower didn't injure him, it momentarily immobilized him.
But Steppenwolf's confidence was unshaken. As his mocking voice echoed through the lab, another portal opened behind him, and a horde of Parademons poured through.
This was why Steppenwolf had never feared being outnumbered. In a battle of attrition, his Parademon army was unmatched.
The Parademons surged forward with shrieks, overwhelming the armored suits and converging on Clarie. She frowned, realizing the sheer scale of the enemy force. The lab was quickly overrun, leaving her no way to break through to Steppenwolf.
Channeling her lightning power, Clarie unleashed a massive thunderstrike, obliterating a swath of Parademons. But their numbers were relentless, and her progress stalled as she shifted to defense, fending off their attacks.
The lab's walls began to crumble under the onslaught. Despite its reinforced construction, it wasn't made of vibranium or similarly resilient materials. Had this battle taken place in the Avengers' training facility, the damage might have been contained. But here, the structural integrity of the base was quickly compromised.
"You call that power?" Steppenwolf sneered, unfazed by the chaos. His gaze fixed on Clarie, and his expression darkened. "Old gods? Pathetic relics!"
"Oh? If the old gods are so pathetic, why don't you face me yourself?" Clarie retorted, her eyes narrowing. Steppenwolf's disdain for her powers intrigued her—his words might be the key to understanding his identity.
Before Steppenwolf could respond, his head snapped to the side as he sensed a new presence. "Another god? Amazonian... Olympus? A mere demigod with such strength?"
A golden glow streaked toward Steppenwolf, piercing through several Parademons before heading straight for his chest.
Clang! Steppenwolf's axe intercepted the incoming strike at the last moment. The fiery collision forced him back several steps, his expression growing grimmer.
"Drop the Mother Box!" Diana's voice rang out, her tone laced with fury. Another radiant beam of divine energy shot toward Steppenwolf, cutting down more Parademons but failing to hit him directly.
With the Mother Box in hand, Steppenwolf retreated into his portal. Despite his disdain for the "old gods," he showed no interest in engaging further.
"Coward!" Diana growled, standing amidst the lab's ruins. Her eyes glowed as divine energy radiated from her, disintegrating the remaining Parademons into ash.
Just as Diana finished mopping up the last of the enemy forces, Robert appeared beside Clarie, surveying the scene. "Did you take care of the intruder?" he asked.
"He ran," Diana replied with a shake of her head, her expression grave. "This is going to be a catastrophe. Even with you here, I'm not sure we can stop him…"
Robert raised an eyebrow at her uncharacteristic worry. "That bad? Who is this guy?"
"He's a subordinate of Darkseid," Diana explained, her voice heavy with the weight of history. "Even in the age of the gods, Darkseid's power was nearly insurmountable. Ares, at the height of his strength, barely managed to wound him. Compared to that Ares, I don't know if even you could stand against him…"
Robert's surprise was evident. He had rushed back as soon as he could, leaving Supergiant incapacitated to ensure no complications arose. But hearing about Darkseid made him rethink his priorities.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., record everything," Diana instructed. She recounted the story of Darkseid's invasion during the age of the gods, detailing how the united pantheons and Green Lanterns had barely repelled him, capturing the Mother Boxes as spoils.
"So, just another ambitious alien with his sights on Earth?" Robert quipped after processing the story. Unlike Diana, he seemed almost eager, already considering countermeasures.
"If the Mother Boxes are connected to this Darkseid, it means he'll need them reunited," he reasoned. "J.A.R.V.I.S., monitor global spatial fluctuations and high-level energy signals."
"Understood, Saiyan," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, beginning its worldwide scan.
"Can't you sense his energy?" Diana asked, frowning.
"I tried," Robert admitted with a shrug. "I've felt plenty of extraordinary life forces here, but none quite like that. In this world, strength doesn't always correlate to life energy, so it's hard to pinpoint him."
"And the Avengers? Why are they taking so long to return?" Diana asked, casting a frustrated glance at the empty base.
"They're... on another Earth," Robert replied, pulling up the data on New Earth.
Diana initially thought he meant a parallel universe, but the data made it clear this was a unique discovery. Meanwhile, on New Earth, the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy had nearly wiped out the High Evolutionary's forces, but his battle with Hulk continued in the mirror dimension.
Baron Mordo, who maintained the mirror dimension, couldn't risk opening a portal for the Avengers' return without compromising its integrity. With Robert and Diana now aware of the stakes, a plan to counter Steppenwolf and Darkseid began to take shape.
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/INNIT
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.