Death of the Old World III Rework I

"Hal is currently unable to use his ring. Superman is slowly recovering from the kryptonite stab and Aquaman and Shazam are quickly healing from their wounds... The rest of us are all here, Neo. We need answers." Flash said. He looked and sounded tired.

We stood on top of a building. North, South, East and West, desolation is everywhere. Hundreds of wounded Amazons are being healed inside of makeshift tents on the streets. The people that died are still not all numbered. But we estimate hundreds of millions.

The moon is high in the night sky, much closer to the earth than it should be, the waves hitting the shores of the world have increased in power and reach by ten. The people of the earth in the various safe houses have yet to learn of what happened here. They still have hope, they don't know we lost.

The United States' army converged on our position, even if by now, the war on land is over. I'm too worried to let us let our guard down. I can't get that supposed god's ugly mug out of my mind. 

I didn't answer Wonder Woman's questions. Told her we should focus on dealing with the aftermath and ask questions later. But now, that's done. And Flash asked at his turn. Someone had to. What do I even tell them?

So there's Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash, Zatanna Zarara, John Constantine, Shazam, Lex Luthor, Silver Angel and every member of the Titans and even Hippolyta, Wonder Woman's mother, all standing behind me, waiting for and explanation.

I wish I could fly away and never come back. But this is, even if indirectly, all my fault. I owe them some kind of explanation. Countless lives are on my hands and countless have died because of my actions...

I can't tell them everything. But I can tell them some truths.

"It's not because I look like a man that I am. For unlike any of you, death has no claim on me, I cannot die. Even should the universe reach the end of its natural lifespan, I would endure…"

"Okay… So you're immortal?" Flash asked. "What does this have to do with… That guy?"

"From what my daughter has told me," Began queen Hippolyta. "The creature which pulled the puppet strings called itself a god. Could that be what you are?"

"No. I don't think so. When I die, my equivalent of the afterlife is a place I call the Deep Black. Time and space work differently from any other realm. I always thought I was alone, even though I was never sure. Yet last time I came back to life, something else followed me into this world. Assuming it too was as unlikable as me, I decided it should be sealed on the moon in a ice container while I figured something out."

Cyborg walked forward. "Wait, so you're the one who put that… thing There? I'm not judging, it was an... idea but… why not tell us?"

"I didn't know. I never could guess it would just… break free."

"Mate, you put some kind of elder God on the moon and in a few… how long as it been up there? Years? Whatever, Its done more damage than any other god has to earth in thousands of years." Said Constantine. He didn't look angry or anything, more like… Impressed.

"I agree. That place you've described reminds me of the void from Lovecraft's works, the dwelling of the elder gods." Batman said.

"Wait, wait wait, what's an old racist horror author has to do with any of this?" Beast boy asked in confusion.

"There are many gods and god-like beings in the universe," said Raven. "Maybe he didn't make up everything he wrote about."

"I don't think an elder god makes pop culture references to obscure things like the SCP foundation." Shazam said. His tongue was finally done regenerating.

I looked at him in shock.

"You know about that? I'm impressed."

I really am, that's a whole new level of respect I have for him, I didn't even know the fandom existed in this universe!

"Do you boys intend to clue us in or…?" Aria asked.

"Don't worry about it. But Shazam's point is valid. The supposed god has access to my memories…"

He probably knows this is a comic book universe or my plans for the future too.

"Shazam is right. I doubt that if it really is a god, it's any old. Probably been with me for… Well, since the beginning, it must have learned about what it knows through me."

"So… he's kind of like your brain child?" Asked Shazam.

"Doesn't matter. We need to stop him and we lack the fire power, that's clear. We can't kill him so we have to seal him."

"I may be able to help with that." Said Luthor. "Lexcorp has been experimenting with space and dimensions. We have something that may be able to send him away forever."

"No. That wouldn't work." Batman announced. "We saw him use portals to get from the moon to earth and back."

I turned to Wonder Woman and her mother. 

"Why haven't the gods intervened yet?"

"Who knows. Many times before they did not intervene in great wars. And the world still stands. Perhaps they trust us."

Stupid deities of comic book universes. They never do anything unless they're evil. How come one part of the gods is always doing nothing and the other always shitting on entire civilizations?

How many times in the comics have the worlds gone to shit because they refused to do anything? And then after when characters don't give them respect or whatever, they act like they deserve it.

The only excuse they have is the same thing that gave birth to probably all of them. It's people who expect gods to do nothing who cause them to, but, that's an issue for much, much later.

Rants never actually fix anything. Worse, they degenerate into nonsense a lot of the time, which cause people to say things that are untrue or not entirely accurate as though they were completely true.

I'll ponder on the nature of gods another time.

A portal appeared besides Wonder Woman. Dark and red in color. A man clad in armor stepped out, darkened face, and crimson eyes.

Wonder Woman struck him with his blade, but he simply moved out of the way. It bounced off his helmet.

"Foolish Amazon. To strike me right after a battle waged? You were sure to disappoint yourself."

The enemy of Kratos in god of war, the god with the least power the justice league as ever fought (wonder woman alone takes him in some versions), the one and only…

"Ares!" She screamed. And queen Hippolyta looked in shock. "What do you want? What are you doing here?!"

"Nothing much, only... To help." He walked forward towards me and smirked. "Father thinks this matter is below him. He sent me to help you deal with it before it actually threatens him."

Jaime Reyes stepped forward. The Blue Beetle armor was shivering around him, out of fear, I presumed.

"I'm sorry everyone but, am I the only one that's, like, never seen a god before? Is that shit normal?!"

"I kinda have to agree with the kid." Said Flash. "I mean… I knew from Wonder Woman but… Actually meeting a god is… Wow."

"Yeah, a little late to be surprised now, pal." Constantine chuckled while pulling out a smoke. "I mean, look at us! And that's not even everyone."

"Haven't you mortals already fought a god?" Ares asked. "Darkseid. God of evil."

"Don't do that to yourself." Nightwing said. "If that guy is a god, then Superman here should count as well, same for Wonder woman and Shazam."

Though to be honest, in a normal situation, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out they actually could take Ares. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that soon enough, I alone could be considered to have godly power.

"If that was the god of evil, then beating whoever that void god is should be easy, right?" Shazam wondered.

Ares looked at him puzzled. "Where has the wisdom of Solomon gone?"

Right? I've been asking myself that question since forever!

"Hey! Well maybe my words are wiser than they look! Wisdom is measured by one's action according to what they know to be true anyways…"

Wow. Alright, maybe It never went anywhere, it was just wasted on a kid.

Ares turned his attention back to me.

"Heracles himself has already been summoned to fight with the pretender god. I expect he should weaken him enough to make our battle against him much easier. If his preparations don't take forever. So human, you are their leader, yes? What is your plan?"

Woah there, huge assumption. But I guess it really is up to me now. My time to shine, meaning that if we lose, it'll all be my fault.

"He gave us a delay of seven days, we won't wait that long. On the sixth, or even fifth, we'll attack…. And I already know how we'll do it."

"John, Zatanna. That Helmet of fate can turn anyone who wears it into a great wizard. You called him the greatest wizard on earth…"

I don't know if Merlin is a thing here. I haven't seen Jason blood at all, that's kinda disappointing. If he is and so is Morningstar, then that would be a very weird family reunion. For those who don't know, Merlin was supposed to be evil Jesus, the son of Satan. But he got purified right after his birth and became a good wizard… At least, in the original Arthurian stories. I have no idea if Merlin even is the son of the devil in any of the earths or versions I've seen of him in DC.

"I get where you're going but… who would make that sacrifice? Naboo is not known to easily let go…"

No way I would. I like my freedom, thank you very much.

"We can think about that if and when we actually grow desperate, that's not all I had in mind." I turned to Shazam. "Shazam… could it be possible for you to transfer your powers to someone else?"

Of course, he can do better and share it with others but, I wouldn't be able to know that so let's just let him reveal it himself.

"Hum, yeah, sure. I definitely can. I can even share it with multiple people at once!"

perfect. Things were still definitely in our favor. If we presume there's a max of six people for sharing Shazam's powers, you understand how op we would become so easily.

My choices? Superman, obviously. Wonder Woman and Aquaman. That's three.

I want to heal Hal so that's four. And imagine the ring combined with magic, that's just badass.

Raven's magical might plus a huge boost from Shazam and there, she's probably becoming the most powerful.

And finally, Shazam himself.

"Alright, I already know who you'll share it with. In the meantime…" I turned to Ares. "You'll be standing back while the armies clash and only intervene if we're losing badly."

The greater the war, the greater his power. We're about to wage a war to save the earth, again. He's rarely gonna be as powerful as this for a while… At least, I hope.

"That's not happening, anomaly. A new supposed god and you expect me to not fight on the front lines?" He scoffed.

At this point, I'm in the radar of far too many powerful beings for my taste… He wasn't even there while I was explaining.

"So this is it, then… Our final stand." Wonder Woman said. "We must win, no matter what."

"Billions of lives depend on us, the entirety of humanity." Batman added. "And by the words of that monster, even in the afterlife, they won't be safe. There is no room for failure."

"... We can't kill it but… Maybe I can seal it away." Raven said.

Everyone turned around to look at her.

"How?" Zatanna asked.

"Long ago, I fought a demon who sought to subjugate this world… I managed to seal him away forever."

Not telling us it's your father?

"Wait, I remember the wizard saying something about that." Said Cyborg.

The titans were looking at her in shock. Damian just looked mildly interested. Trigon had yet to do anything, it seems, otherwise, they would already be aware of that… 

"I'm sorry but, did I just hear what I think I did?!" Beast boy's jaw would have been on the floor, had the art style been a little different.

She ignored him.

"That demon was a god in his own right. I have to try, we don't really have any other choice."

"Shazam." I whispered. "She's the first one you're sharing your powers with."

At this point… That void guy fucked up! He seriously fumbled. There is no way he's prepared for what's coming for him! We're like an overpowered party fighting a mid-level boss, HE IS TOAST. 

Internally, I celebrated this presumed victory. There is no way we can lose now!

-???-

Despair.

That is the anti life equation. 

Now, of course, I don't have access to the actual equation itself. And even if I did, mind control is something beneath me. I don't need to mess with minds to control them.

I can cause despair on my own. And when they all know despair, they will know the value of the salvation I offer.

It is the only way I can win.

I do not know what sort of plans father will come up with to defeat me, but I cannot let him win. No matter what, I'll make sure this battle is as one sided as possible.

All my converted Atlantean army has been moved to the moon, and they are not even a tenth of the power I intend to unleash upon them. I've been growing my physical form more and more. the rest of my body isn't even on the moon, I've already moved it elsewhere.

But even if I should not take any risks, I can't just end it without giving them a chance to fight. I will give them hope. And then I will take it away. I will make them bow down of their own wills, even father himself. But for now, preparation for my presentation.

Champions. To fight for me, weaken them, but not too quickly. If they die, I can simply bring them back. And so I have done for the first of my champions. Meirleius.

He was an elder mage frustrated by failure his whole life. His dreams beckoned me, he was exactly what I was looking for. He sought power and knowledge. I offered him both and more.

I presented myself to him and all those who followed as a god of the deep. Anyone sane would have never accepted to be in my service, you would think. But all I had to do was show them despair. Make them understand their fate, should events unfold naturally. Even the Afterlife cannot save them. They will all die and all be replaced. As if they never even existed.

Knowing nihilism and knowing nihilism are not the same. Because a true nihilist will do everything to escape the horrific truth. Even serve what appears, according to all measures of common sense, to be a dark god.

And so with a pact struck, Meirleius became my first champion. Imbued with my power, I had him take over the kingdom under the guises of making Atlantis 'the empire it should have always been'. He told them it was a deep dark god who took pity on them and offered them salvation. And when they saw him make a mockery of the queen and of her son, of their armies with godlike power, they believed him.

Slowly but surely, I revealed myself to every individual Atlantean through their dreams. Once they all knew me, who amongst them would dare object to my rule?

The queen and puny Mera, of course. And a few others of little worth. They died agonizing deaths yet did not give in. It doesn't matter. I'll find them in whatever after life they were sent to 'eternally' rest.

As for the failure of our great spell to drown the world? Don't make me laugh. How could humanity despair and I, claim them, if they all drown before I can even reach them?

Destroying the world? No. I'm merely using fear to push the heroes to their limits. The higher they reach, the harder they fall.

Fate could have never detected such a spell if not for me letting him on purpose. Far too much of it involved drawing from the dark energy wells of Mother. He could have never noticed.

This is simply a game. And I relish in letting my opponents think they ever stood a chance. A man that has nothing to lose yet everything to gain will serve anyone and anything.

Again, the reason why Darkseid seeks the Anti life equation. Love is the only other tool which can make one willingly submit to even give up their free will. But it's not in his nature to use Love. Neither is it in mine.

There was a version of the character who fell in love and had a wife. To him, she was the voice of reason. But Granny Goodness assassinated her, leading him on his path of pure evil. I do not know how that factors in with the new cannon. New gods are platonic concepts. Darkseid is simply evil. Can evil ever love?

What even is evil? 

Like good, it is entirely subjective. Even if it follows grand lines among different people's perspectives. 

Corruption, Domination, Selfishness.

Is a man evil if he would sacrifice all life for themselves? Yes. But what if its for a lover? Thanos is a prime example of the latter, at least, in the comics. Yet none can dare call him good or morally justified.

Evil is selfishness. Then would that not make God evil? 

No. 

Because that's the truth everyone seems to forget. 

Might makes right. Literally. 

So whatever god is, then evil is his opposite. Yet Darkseid is far from that, is he? In fact, even in true form, his power pales in comparison to that of the source. For he paled in comparison to Perpetua who was nothing to the Source.

It seems to me like unlike other kinds of gods, like the chaos gods of Warhammer, Newgods do not grow or lose power according to the power of their dominion of mortals.

Father's memories are clear. At least, I believe them to be, I've relied on them so far, I pray they never betray me. I do not know to whom it is I pray. Perhaps mother.

Thinking of Perpetua reminds me of the darkest knight. Which makes me think of Doctor Manhattan.

I fear him. As much… no, I fear him infinitely more than father. Yet the Presence is still the one I fear most…

But in the end, Meirleius cannot be my only champion. There is another… One who will bring such despair to my father… 

His mask will shatter. Either by that betrayal or by the might of my words. I know it.

-Neo-

Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Raven, Shazam.

There they stood in front of us, their bodies coursing with sheer divine might. It was incredible. And terrifying. If I was any bad guy and saw that, I'd shit myself.

"Alright. I could get used to this." Superman said.

"I can see!" Green Lantern screamed in joy. "Oh god thank you. I swear if I get my hands on that wizard…"

"Keep focus, guys. Remember plan Last Resort." I said.

Just you wait. I doubt we'll have to use it but if we do, it might actually be atomic…

"Is this permanent? I wouldn't mind if it was…" Arthur announced while making the lightning dance across his fingers.

I think it can.

Over the first day alone, we made sure they understood the full extent of their power while we sent Superman to bask in the sun, just to amp him even more.

Zatanna and Constantine have enchanted every single one of the Amazons in addition to the US's armed forces so they could breath in space. My various drones will be charged with creating large pocket zones of earth like gravity so the ground forces can fight as we need. In case they've got space ships, those drones should be able to deal with them too.

Flash has been equipped with a gravity gauntlet and belt. On the moon, he'll have a lot of space to run, allowing him to build enough momentum to one shot pretty much anything that the void god could ever send our way.

I was overlooking everything, throwing out ideas and plans. Sometimes someone corrected me or brought in new factors to consider but eventually, after two days, I felt everyone deserved to speak one more time with their loved ones, especially the soldiers.

I stood alone, pondering. I was confident, but something in the back of my mind made me fear for the worse. The god of war came to bother me.

Why didn't they bring Athena? Isn't she supposed to be the strategist?

"Neo Mundus."

"Is there something you need, Ares?"

He chuckled. "I've heard some very interesting things. Is it true? That your child is the god we are about to fight?"

"That would be a very gross oversimplification. If you want to know, you may ask the bastard while we beat the shit out of him."

He literally is a bastard. I don't know who the mother is if that being was indeed born of me. I would rather not learn I was the sole cause of its existence so I can blame someone else for his murderous ways.

"Do not take offense. I'm simply curious. Your first child, at least, I presume, and yet he represents everything you stand against."

"I remember one of your daughters to be the goddess of harmony, I definitely like that one."

He smiled. 

"I hold nothing against my daughter. But the other gods… They do dislike her and her meddling ways. Her and her descendants were all cursed long ago."

I vaguely remembered that story, something about a cursed necklace on Harmonia's wedding. I couldn't frown under the mask. But I would have.

"And what did you do?"

That startled him.

"Your own daughter is cursed and you do nothing. You are not one of my favorite gods. Not because of what you represent but because of your actions."

He crossed his arms.

"You dislike the gods." He remarked. No shit Sherlock.

"I do not like your specific family of gods. The only ones I have even a hint of respect for would be the Newgods of New genesis."

He smirked.

"Ah, so you know about them. You know of many things, even. Things that should not be known. What is it exactly that you reproach us olympians?"

… I'm not entirely sure. In the DC universe, all gods and history itself is changed at the whims of what enough people believe to be true. It can be argued that none of them chose to be as flawed as they are.

It cannot be argued that they couldn't have grown from their previous mistakes.

Yet they didn't, did they?

I wouldn't go as far as to say that a character like Marvel's Gorr would be right to hate all gods. But for sure, they are dangerous. Especially if technically speaking, we make them and it's not the other way around. That aspect of the lore is crazy inconsistent for obvious reasons.

"What I reproach you does not matter, god of war. It won't change anything. Let's just stay out of each other's way."

Damn. I wish someone replaced him with Kratos. Even if just Young Kratos. Everyone knows he would easily win against our enemy.

The time I didn't spend alone was spent with the Triad. We'd talk about anything and everything, none of them seemed really worried, except for interpretor. Even then, it was more akin to stress then actual fear of failure.

"Are there colors in darkness?" Interpretor asked.

"If the void is an energy that can vary in frequency, I imagine that there would be."

"How would matter reflect void? What may appear as warm like a red apple could be seen as cold if illuminated by void instead of light. We couldn't know." Actuator added. "I will experiment on this if someday we learn to harness it."

"I wonder what would seem more beautiful. Seeing the world with light or seeing it with void?"

Those are the kind of things we talk about all the time in privacy. Yet I still feel a little… alone.

"I have great news, by the way." Said Actuator. "Imaginator said he wanted a body for himself too. We've been designing with the idea of manipulating space itself through both gravitons and tachyon technology."

Oh? That actually sounds super useful. Wasn't the other day I was pondering on that, actually.

"How far along is it?"

"Nearly finished sir. I too will join the war."

It warmed my heart. I'm not sure what to call my relationship with them anymore. They don't feel like sons as much as just chill people I hang out with. Friends. They're the only ones I really trust. They know more about my plans than anyone else.

Even if those plans have been derailed, it's thanks to them I could iterate on new ones for when this war is over.

In the end, we did decide to wait the full seven days. We didn't have a choice, actually. Its only on the seventh day that suddenly, Green Lantern that we sent to scout ahead for us reported the sudden appearance of a whole army on the surface of the rock satellite. We were more than ready.

At twelve PM precisely, everyone was ready. Cyborg was preparing the boom tubes while we who could fly had already set foot on the moon. Actuator in his new body as well as all the drones he helped control were like our air force.

The enemy were standing in rows, they did in fact have spaceship which were probably just repurposed Atlantean vehicles. 

Somehow, they had managed to bring with them those huge shrimp like Kaijus on the moon, probably through portals. Heavy machinery was everywhere. Sensors detected some that were hundreds of kilometers away, showing that they also had terrifying range and power.

Of course, the distance wasn't the real problem. Kryptonite covered them so Superman couldn't even approach. Lucky for us, sharing the power of Shazam allows him to resist with ease. That rock is basically pointless decoration now.

Far above the battlefield, Meirleius stands, as if he hadn't been torn apart a few days ago, with a grin on his old ass mug.

"Cyborg, send them up…"

And in a moment, a huge boom tube portal appeared behind us, from which everyone else came through. What is this, Infinity war?

War cries shouldn't resonate in space but thanks to magic, they sure as hell fucking can now. The Amazon's war cry was a show of force, yet our enemies remained impassive.

Everyone readied their weapons, the six Shazam heroes were at the front lines alongside me, Ares, Cyborg and Starfire.

Invigorated, we charged forward and the battle began, We showed them we were the greater force.

"Uh guys, might wanna take a look forward…" I heard Shazam say.

A shadow rose from the horizon. Something somehow blacker than space itself. 

"Holly SHIT!"

"By the gods!"

"We might actually be screwed, guys."

And the Atlanteans made known their war cry at their turn as they collided against us.

Tentacles. Wings. Horns. A fucking titanic Lovecraftian space dragon roared into view and it resonated inside our very minds minds. It's fully spread wings blocked out the whole view of the stars.

That thing was bigger than the moon itself! It moved its eye less head towards us.

I could feel all of its hideous red eyes on me.

"Know my name, know your despair and your savior. Bow to me for even in death you are already mine to conquer. Know the god of the void, he who shall deliver you from the world, know the god of Requiem!"