'How is he growing stronger with each exchange?' David thought in growing confusion and concern, watching Darkseid closely, who had caught up to him in an instant despite the distance.
But this time around, Darkseid didn't attack with his fists as he had been doing. Instead, he reached out and took hold of Saturn itself with his will, the massive gas giant, and slammed it across David's body. Somehow, the gas giant felt like a solid object as it connected with devastating force and sent David rocketing towards Earth at blinding speed that left a trail through space.
David was caught mid-flight by Superman, who positioned himself in David's path to stop his momentum, but the sheer force behind David's body sent Superman rocketing backwards towards Earth as well.
However, with the combined help of the other assembled heroes working together, they managed to slow David down gradually before he could hit the Earth's surface and cause catastrophic damage.
The world watching through the streams was eerily quiet, seeing this shocking event unfold. How could they find words to talk or comment when Earth's strongest hero had just been defeated so thoroughly?
"Is that everything you have?" Darkseid asked with cruel satisfaction, appearing above David with his hands clasped behind his back in a posture of superiority.
Earth's heroes quickly moved to shield David and prepare to fight the impossible task ahead, but David gently moved them aside with his hand while smiling up at Darkseid despite his weakened state.
"It's funny when you think about it, I thought a god would have a large ego and pride. Yet look at you standing there feeling so proud and accomplished after defeating a mere mortal in his weakened state." David said mockingly, his words dripping with sarcasm. But he was tired, as it could be heard from how weak his voice was.
The statement made Darkseid's eyes narrow dangerously in anger. With a flash of movement, Darkseid disappeared from his position, appearing directly before David in the blink of an eye, only for David's hand to flash forward with surprising speed, grab Darkseid by the neck with an iron grip, and burst forward with explosive force, throwing Darkseid rocketing out beyond Earth's atmosphere and into outer space.
David quickly tried to catch his breath and recover, but he barely managed to take a few desperate breaths before his body was suddenly pierced through by a bunch of magical weapons that materialized from nowhere.
David coughed up a mouthful of blood that spilled from his lips, his eyes glaring with fury towards the Lords of Chaos, who had reminded the world with this attack that they were still present and waiting.
Purple flashed and rippled across his entire body, erasing the weapons from existence as if they had never been there. Before any of the Lords of Chaos could properly react to what was happening, David disappeared from sight, moving faster than they could perceive, slapping all of them across their faces with devastating force, before he fell heavily to the ground, completely out of breath and gasping.
But the Lords of Chaos, on the other hand, were busy screaming in pure agony and pain, their voices echoing across the battlefield, all while David's body slowly healed his severe injuries through his regeneration.
But had anyone forgotten about Darkseid in all this chaos? He was rocketing back down from the heavens above, absolutely enraged by the mortal known as David and his continued defiance. He was moving far too fast for comfort.
The other heroes gathered couldn't even react to or perceive the sheer speed Darkseid was moving at as he descended. David moved to intercept, and this time Darkseid finally saw and understood how David could move so quickly and match his speed.
Lightning. It was crackling Lightning that covered David's entire body like a second skin, boosting his physical capability to such an extreme level that even Darkseid had serious trouble keeping up with him.
David landed a devastating kick against Darkseid's face, caving it inward and crushing bone, stopping him instantly in his tracks and halting all his momentum.
Before Darkseid could recover, David grabbed him with both hands, and with all of his remaining might and strength, sent him rocketing out into outer space, beyond Earth, beyond the moon, and beyond even the solar system itself.
David would have loved nothing more than to use Purple and completely erase Darkseid from existence, wiping him out of reality itself, but he simply couldn't manage to do it in his current state. The issue wasn't that he lacked the necessary curse energy - he had more than enough of that resource stored up and available inside him.
The real problem was that his body was physically tired, exhausted down to his very bones and muscles from the relentless fighting and running he'd been doing without any real rest. He was so completely drained and tired, his limbs feeling like lead weights, that he didn't even bother trying to use his abilities to float gently towards the ground below.
Instead, he simply let himself fall freely through the air, his body hitting the ground with a hard, painful impact that he barely registered as his chest heaved up and down and he breathed heavily, trying to get oxygen into his burning lungs.
"Are you alright?" Superman asked, his voice filled with genuine concern for David's well-being as he ran forward quickly to reach David's side and check on his condition.
"Yeah, I'm just out of breath right now… if only I could breathe in outer space," David said between gasps, his eyes turning to look over at the Green Lanterns standing in the distance.
It was a strange and frustrating thing - although he could replicate and perform everything they could do with their power rings through his own unique physique, the one specific thing he couldn't manage on his own was breathing in the vacuum of outer space. He guessed that particular ability required possession of an actual Green Lantern ring to accomplish.
The Green Lanterns wanted to say something back to him, to offer words of encouragement or support, but honestly, what could they possibly say in this situation? They felt genuinely weak and useless just standing there watching.
David had been doing all of the real work in this fight, carrying the entire battle on his shoulders alone, and they couldn't even help him or contribute in any meaningful way to the battle.
David slowly and painfully pushed himself up from the ground where he'd fallen and began walking with clear purpose towards where Darkseid's elite warriors stood clustered together.
The sight of him approaching them, bloodied and all, scared the entire group of villains, making them tense up and prepare themselves for violence.
But David simply walked past most of them without even stopping or looking in their direction, his focus clearly elsewhere, and he only came to a complete stop when he reached Aurelie standing among them.
She immediately held out her fist towards him in a defensive posture, her entire body language showing she was ready and prepared to fight if he attacked, although anyone watching closely could see there was no real will or determination behind the gesture - she clearly had no hope of actually winning against him.
"I will be your hero," David said, his voice coming out weak and barely loud enough for anyone standing nearby to hear properly. But Aurelie, standing right in front of him, heard those unexpected words clearly and perfectly.
The statement left her feeling confused and uncertain, unsure what he could possibly mean by saying that to her, only for her eyes to suddenly widen in shock and dawning realization as she watched David walk past her and move up towards Willik, and she saw Willik's face instantly turn deathly pale with terror.
"I find it amusing that even amongst people who openly call themselves evil, you're not as evil as I expected. Humans hunger for what's not good for them, be it sexual, harming others, and so on. It comes naturally for us. I like to say humans are naturally born to do wrong, that's how a kid could do something wrong without ever being taught… but humans are also capable of being the most beautiful race in existence." David said as he reached out with one hand and grabbed Willik firmly by the neck, holding him in place.
"You all see rape as wrong, so are you all truly evil? I heard a story that years ago, a city had been so evil that evil became commonplace. Rape had been so common, to the point that both males and females stepping into the city would become targets… Your home is not that evil or dark." David said softly.
"Just because you are cruel doesn't truly make you all evil - humanity is far more cruel to its own people than you could ever be. The only way you can outclass them is because you can give a punishment that goes beyond death. But many humans would do that and get extra creative with it compared to you all." David said softly, his words light and calm as he applied pressure to force Willik to look him directly in the eyes, making sure he couldn't look away.
"So, are you guys evil? I doubt it. You're all average by human standards… so have you got anything you want to say before I slap you?" David said softly, his tone almost gentle. Without waiting for another word to be spoken or any response, he began raising his hand.
"I-I'm sorry, I would never touch her again. I promise." Willik cried out desperately in pure horror, his voice cracking.
The words and admission shocked the Female Furies standing nearby watching, who all turned their heads in unison to look at Aurelie with new understanding of what had been happening. Aurelie couldn't help but cry at this moment, hot tears streaming down her face unchecked.
Although she wanted desperately to stop the tears from falling, to maintain her strong composure and not show weakness, having this painful secret brought into the open like this in front of everyone was… well, it was incredibly hard to endure.
[A/N: Aurelie had been raped by Willik in the comic; her story line played a huge role itno why Big Barda left the female Furies.
Also, I fully believe humans are more evil than anything Darkseid has done in the comic. Give most humans Darkseid's powers, and I'm sure they could do far more evil to go around. Then again, I don't think Darkseid is truly a god of evil; that role goes to Trigon. I also believe humans have the most potential for evil and good across the multiverse, just my personal belief.]