10 Lord Commander 3

'Well things seem to be going well..' Drüin thought before hurling Aegor towards an incoming New God starship. The spear pierced through the vessel and killed the pilot inside, causing the ship to crash into the water behind him. The God of Might turned and caught a charging New God soldier by their throat, then tossed them away like a ragdoll before calling Aegor back to him. Once the spear returned to his palm, he spun around and cut down two more unsuspecting New God soldiers. All around him, Asgardians and New Gods fought each other. From his peripheral vision, he could even catch glimpses of Hermod chasing Lightray. Despite the God of Speed not being able to fly, he was still fast enough to make that a none-issue. Drüin turned to find Tyr stabbing his new prosthetic sword into another of the New Gods.

The God of Might's plan had gone quite well, a part of him wanted to show mercy to the New Gods. To try and be human like he once was, to be Victor Jones. Unfortunately, being inside an Asgardian has warped his sense of self. Victor Jones and Drüin Odinson were one of the same on a two sided coin. Despite what he would have wanted as a human, as he was now as an Asgardian, mercy could not be shown. The New Gods decided to test the mettle of Asgard, and now they will have it.

Drüin twirled his spear around before firing an energy blast from it's tip. The golden beam sniping one New God soldier aiming to shoot Tyr in the back. As soon as he had stopped that soldier from hitting Tyr in the back, Drüin ended up being shot as on the right side of his helmet. The soldier who had shot him, blasted the right portion of his face. Unfortunately for that New God, Drüin was still standing and simply turned his head to them. "You little shit..." He uttered dryly, causing the New God to started shooting at Drüin repeatedly. Truth be told, the God of Might did feel something from that weapon. Sadly it felt more like someone was thumping him more than anything.

The God of Might swatted the next energy blast, and the next, until eventually he was upon the New God. He shoved Aegor down into his foe's chest, then pulled it upwards to cut their upper half in two. Drüin looked upwards to find Brunhilde doing a flyby with a Squadron of Valkyries following behind her. The warrior women ploughed into the New God's, finally breaking their resolve. As soon as Brunhilde drew near to the God of Might, her Pegasi came to a flapping halt and right before him. She was covered in blood both her own and not. Her sword, Dragonfang gleamed with fresh blood dripping from it. She gave her prince a nod of the head before beginning her report. "My prince, the New Gods are withdrawing from the skies", she stated, "From what I've seen, you have broken them here. That said I am unsure if the same can be said for Lady Hela..."

"Ah, I wouldn't worry much over it", Drüin replied before glancing behind him to see an approaching New God soldier, "If there is anything to worry about, then it should be if the throneroom is still standing after she is done playing with her food."

After saying that, the God of Might hurled Aegor like a javelin and watched it get embedded into the incoming soldier. The spear pierced through the New God's armor and came out of the other side. The weapon continued to travel until he had it return to him with a wave of his hand. The forces of New Genesis were retreating just like Brunhilde had said, they were trying to enter Boomtubes as quickly as possible. Victory was Asgard's, though for whatever reason Drüin felt as if something wasn't right. For him it felt easy, too easy. 'Murphy is acting up, I just know it!' He thought with dread.

The God of Might let out a three pronged whistle, then waited a few seconds before seeing a black Pegasi approaching him from the sky. It was none other than Norik, his personal stead clad in orange blazing armor. The beast of burden came to a flapping halt beside his master, allowing the God of Might to ride atop of him. Drüin moved himself over onto Norik, then stirred the mighty stirred towards the palace. "Brunhilde, Tyr!", he called back, "Rid Asgard of this filth! secure the city!"

He need not look back to see if they had heard him, for they were trusted enough to do as he said. Drüin had faith in them, and they him. Centuries of serving beside one another made sure that the trio were more than brothers-in-arms. They treated each other as if they were family now, though for Tyr and Brunhilde it seemed that they were closer than that...in private at least.

Drüin stirred Norik into the air, the mighty black Pegasi letting out a loud neigh as it flapped it's armored wings. The God of Might was a little anxious, he felt as if that Darkseid had something going on behind the scenes. He felt as if the Dark God of Apokolips would try to pull something while Asgard was distracted. So first, he would retrieve his sister, due in fact because he knew that she could be susceptible to a certain Granny's re-education. 'Let's hope that I'm wrong and that there's nothing to worry about...' Drüin thought as the royal palace came into view.

{Asgard Throneroom, Hela}

The Goddess of Death was elated, she got to taste New God blood. She winded up Mjölnir and smacked the mighty hammer across the white armored woman's face. They had called out to each other's names, allowing her to know that they were Orion and Bekka. The two were decent warriors, decent enough to not die from being smacked around by Mjölnir at least. Normally anyone else would be dead from the blunt force of the mighty weapon. Luckily for Hela, that wasn't the case for these two. Her Berserkers had long finished off the last of Orion and Bekka's soldiers, their bodies lay dead on the floor lifeless. Each having been brutally murdered as if their lives didn't matter. Truth be told that was the case, if they weren't strong enough in Hela's eyes then their lives really didn't matter.

Hela had a devilish grin plastered on her face, her armor had a few bits of it been pierced into by Bekka. Her body hardly felt sore or aching from Orion's blunt force punches. The two New Gods were too cautious to attack with their lives depending on it. That actually made the Goddess of Death a little upset, due in part that they seemed to be under the impression that the battle outside was in their favor still. If she knew her brother, it was that her far surpassed her in strategic planning and tactical knowhow. Meaning that she already knew that the battle was most likely over, and that the God of Might was most certainly on his way here.

Orion came at Hela again, along with Bekka as well. Both New Gods raised their weapons to attack the Goddess of Death simultaneously. Orion with a cocked back fist, and Bekka with a raised sword poised to cut Hela down from the middle. The Goddess of Death jumped back, then hurled Mjölnir at Orion while also making several of her jagged blades go flying at Bekka. The two New Gods immediately tried to defend themselves with Orion trying to block Mjölnir and Bekka swatting away at the blades heading her way. Unfortunately for both, they were not prepared to face the Goddess of Death. Orion felt the mighty hammer collided with his fist, knocking the entirety of his right arm out of place with a sickening crunch. It made him cry out in pain as the hammer passed by, making him clutch his broken arm protectively. Bekka on the other hand did well to stop at least a portion of the jagged blades from piercing her vital parts. Sadly even for her, she was pierced through in her arms, legs, and shoulder. The New Goddess of Beauty fell to her knees letting out a pain filled groan.

Hela recalled Mjölnir, watching as the mighty weapon return to her palm. She shook her head as she stared at the two New Gods with disgust. "This is just pathetic, did you really think that the two of you could take the Allfather as you are?", Hela sneered, "My father would not even need his weapon to end you lot. Actually all he need do is wave his hand at you and send the both of you away from Asgard like you are nothing. You are disgraces, to call yourselves gods."

"I agree." Another sadistic feminine tone agreed, causing Hela to wirl around to find a spiked armored fist collide with her jaw. The blow sent the Goddess of Death flying to the other side of the Throneroom. Hela's back collided with one of the pillars, but even then she punched right through it and skidded across the floor. For the first time in centuries, she felt real pain. The last time that she had felt this was when Surtur had utterly beaten her. The first time that this had happened was when her twin ,Drüin, showed his true worth. Rising to her feet with a slight groan escaping her lips, the Goddess of Death looked to find an ash pale skinned woman. She wore exposing black armor with spiked pieces of it all around. There was no weapon in her hand, other than a sheathed blade on her back. The woman's eyes were hueing scarlet red, with a sadistic smirk plastered upon her face. "So you are the infamous Goddess of Death...I was expecting to find the Allfather here but you will just have to do." The woman stated as she cracked her knuckles.

Hela narrowed her eyes onto the woman, then licked her lips as she winded up Mjölnir. "And who are you suppose to be?" The Goddess of Death questioned.

"I am Grail, child of Darkseid."

After Grail told Hela her name, the Apokoliptian's eyes began to shine. Not long afterwards, beams of red light escaped her irises. They traveled to Hela at tremendous speeds, so much so that Hela couldn't keep up with them. The Goddess of Death quickly held up Mjölnir to block, but she only halted one of the beams. In a shocking turn of events, the other beam went around and collided with her back. Seering pain radiated through Hela as she gritted her teeth. She did not allow herself to give Grail the satisfaction that her attack had just hurt her. Hela returned with an attack of her own, hurtling Mjölnir at the Apokoliptian with a toss. However, Grail simply side stepped then sent another beam at the vulnerable Hela. Before she was hit, the Goddess of Death recalled Mjölnir. Both Grail and Hela were hit by each other, Hela square in the chest and Grail right in her back by Mjölnir.

Both women fell to their knees, then quickly rose up prepared for battle. Bekka and Orion had long escaped by using a Boomtube, the two New Gods having survived this day. Hela cared not of it, she was more focused on Grail. The Apokoliptian had just proven that she was far more dangerous, and had wounded Hela's pride in her abilities. Just as it seemed that Hela and Grail were about to fight, a neigh was heard. It was one that Hela knew all too well.

Bursting into the throneroom, Drüin, the God of Might had arrived to do battle. Grail sent a beam at both siblings, but this time the both of them used their weapons to swat her attacks to the side. Hela using Mjölnir to smack the red beam downwards, and Drüin using Aegor to swat the beam into a nearby wall. "Oh ho, now this looks to be interesting", Grail commented sinisterly, "My father's favorite Asgardian and his whelp of a sister. I wonder who will fall first..."

"Hela, withdraw immediately." Drüin ordered as he moved to his sister's side. The Goddess of Death didn't even look to her brother as she gritted her teeth.

"Hel no", She denied, "Not when there is a true chall-"

"Your back is scarred sister, and you're legs are trembling..."

Hela looked down to find that her legs were in fact trembling, not from fear no, but from the pain. She enjoyed feeling pain, so much so that it made her fight even more savagely. However, her body still had it's limits and she was pushing them. She was about to deny her brother once more, but a hand on her shoulder silenced her. Drüin had grabbed his twin, then tossed her over to Norik who caught her onto his back. "Take her to the front lines Norik, I will handle things here." The God of Might ordered as Hela thrashed about atop the horse.

"Drüin!", Hela called just as Norik turned and began galloping out of the throneroom, "Damn you!"

{Drüin}

"You would get rid of your advantage?" Grail questioned with a sneer.

"I would protect my sister from the likes of you..." Drüin replied, then twirled Aegor before letting out a deep breathe.

"Such weakness...I can only wonder why my father views you as a threat."

"How about I show you why that is?"

As soon as Drüin said his piece, Grail charged at him. She had yet to draw her sword, but the God of Might was no fool. He knew that in terms of pure skill in hand to hand combat, the Apokoliptian surpassed him. Though he was not going to let her realize that, especially when his greatest advantage at the moment was his raw power. Aegor's tip shined gold as an energy blast was fired from it. Grail dodged the first one, but found another golden blast heading her way. She raised her armored forearm to block Drüin's attack. Her armor held up to Drüin's attack but she grunted when she felt herself get pushed back. Her bracer steamed after Drüin's energy blast had dissipated. "Face me coward!" Grail spouted with venom.

"The true coward is you", Drüin retorted, "You could have faced me on the battlefield, but you would rather stalk in the shadows like a viper...this is your just reward."

Drüin unleashed torrent after torrent of energy blasts at Grail, each blast leaving Aegor in rapid succession. One would think that he should hit her with a sustained blast, but doing so was begging to fail. She would be able to move towards him quicker, he was trying to soften her up before she could close the distance between them. He was saving energy for her Omega Beams, after all that was her most devastating weapon in her arsenal. From what he understood in the DCEU, the Omega Beam was not as grand as the other versions of it. Granted, he was still not sure if he wouldn't get pierced through like the movies had showed Darkseid's Omega Beams did to others. Drüin heard a snarl, then saw a flash of red from Grail's eyes. She had unleashed her Omega Beams to counter Drüin's energy blasts. He watched as the two beams travel to him, moving about so that he couldn't effectively stop them.

The God of Might shoved Aegor's bladed tip into the floor, creating a golden bubble shield around him as his own eyes gave off a golden hueing glow. The Omega Beams collided with Drüin's shield, unable to pierce it for the moment. That ended when he noticed that Grail used it to close the distance as she unsheathed her blade. It was a hook like blade with a jagged edge to it. She let out a growl as she jumped at Drüin, coming down to cut him in two. The God of Might released Aegor from the floor, removing his bubble shield. He didn't want to see if the construct would be able to hold up to Grail's blade. After all, he knew her to be an equal to Wonder Woman, and she was practically almost as strong as Darkseid. Testing to see if he would be able to hold up to her was begging for trouble. Then again, he had confidence in his own endurance to outlast the Apokoliptian.

Moving back, Drüin narrowingly dodged Grail's blade. The jagged edge piercing the floor and cracking it as she came down. Grail quickly removed her blade from the floor, then lunged at the God of Might, swiping at him sideways. Drüin moved quickly, using Aegor's shaft to block her blade. Grail attempted to pull the spear out of his grasp, unfortunately the God of Might lived up to his title. His strength allowing him to keep a firm hold on his spear as he sent a roundhouse kick to Grail's stomach. The Apokoliptian unfortunately showed great durability as she tanked the armored kick. Then she sent a kick to Drüin's head, smacking her armored foot at his temple. The God of Might moved with her kick, spinning around and releasing the hold that she had with her blade on Aegor. With a twirl, he sent the spear into a sideways swipe, intending to cleave her in two at the hip. Grail moved her own blade to block, and felt herself get pushed to the side by Drüin's strength.

It was obvious that the God of Might had much more strength than her, but she was quicker than him. Knowing this, she rushed at him after catching herself. The Apokoliptian feigned an Omega Beam attack, causing Drüin to jump back. Seeing this, Grail moved her blade to skewer Drüin in his chest. The God of Might however caught onto her plan, and moved one arm to halt her arm that held her blade. At the same time, he sent Aegor to pierce her through. Grail moved her own arm, trying to stop Drüin as well. The two warriors stabbed each other, Grail's blade piercing into his armor and exiting out of his back. Drüin's spear doing the same, though to add more pain he send power through Aegor to cook Grail from the inside out. A growl left Grail's lips as she glared up into Drüin's golden glowing eyes. Drüin on the other hand grunted from being stabbed, showing off his own endurance and pain tolerance to the Apokoliptian. Instead of waiting for her to removed her blade, the God of Might let go of Aegor, then grabbed Grail by her face.

Drüin then let out a cry of effort as he used his other hand to keep a firm grip on her arm. Not long after, he lifted her off the floor and began pushing her backwards. Grail released Drüin's hand and tried to pry his hand off of her face. Before she could however, he had her back collide into two pillars. The God of Might continued to tackle her through a wall, exiting the Throneroom violently. Even to the point that the both of them went right out of the Palace itself. Both combatants fell down towards the courtyard, with Grail beneath Drüin. Her back smacked against the ground, creating a crater beneath them. The God of Might sent a fist into the Apokoliptian's face. before he could smash his armored knuckles into her, Grail sent an Omega Beam into his chest. Her blast knocked Drüin off his feet and away from her. She continued to fire into Drüin, but he removed her blade from his chest and used it to shield himself. Grail eventually stopped as she rose up with gritted teeth. She had blood drooling from her mouth and blood dripping down her nose. Drüin spit out some blood that had mixed with his spit out of his mouth as his gaping chest wound had blood pouring out.

The God of Might recalled Aegor, and prepared for another bout. However Grail was quicker, using her Omega Beams to attack Drüin. This time however, she had both beams aimed to attack him. The God of Might responded with a sustained energy blast pointed at her with his spear, the two beams colliding in a beam struggle. The two warriors continued to fire at one another, neither one giving ground to the other. That would end when a Boomtube suddenly opened up for Grail behind her. "We will continue this another day Asgardian..." She warned with malice.

No sooner than she said that, her Omega Beams ended. Grail had escaped through the Boomtube and back to Apokolips. Drüin's beam sped past where she had stood, showing that he was about to kill her. The God of Might let out a breath, his irises returning to normal as he looked around. He stood strong, despite being wounded. His eyes turned upward to find Brunhilde, Tyr, and Hela arriving on Pegasi. Hela had a scowl on her face as she descended down on Norik's back. Brunhilde and Tyr had worried looks on their faces, noticing that he was wounded. Hela however wasn't as concerned, at least that was her face showed. Before Hela could spout about Drüin taking away her fight, he simply held up his hand.

"I will make it up to you later sister", Drüin assured, "Tyr, Brunhilde, what have you to report?"

Brunhilde was the first to respond as she dismounted her Pegasi. "My prince, the enemy have fled the city."

Tyr was next as he looked over the crowned prince. "Asgard remains ours, it appears that they were not truly expecting our fierce resistance as you said."

"That is to he expected, they have never fought true warriors before", Drüin agreed, "Now that both Darkseid and Highfather have tasted Asgardian steel...we response with an attack of our own."

That made Hela's eyes widened as well as Brunhilde and Tyr. Drüin didn't seem like one to think of attacking. Even so, it made Hela smile as a dark chuckle escaped her lips.

"So then...who do we strike first?" Hela questioned.

"Both..." Drüin answered.