Death of the Old World IV

-Neo-

"Where the hell is Heracles?!" I heard Ares curse.

"Do not fall back!" Wonder Woman commended her sisters. "No matter the strength of our opponent, we shall prevail!" They charged towards the enemies invigorated by her confidence.

In times like these, you'd think people would lose hope and flee. I know I would have if not for everyone around me having the strength I lack. Before that thing in the sky, I felt so minuscule. It's like my failures, my weaknesses and my inadequacies took physical form. This pretender god is something I couldn't have foreseen or stopped, now that I think about it. Maybe… If I'd just lived a quiet life, he wouldn't have killed so many and ruined so much.

"It's useless to focus on the foot soldiers, we've got enough people on our side to deal with them, our real target is the dragon!" Superman declared as he charged top speed towards the beast, shrouded in divine lightning, he struck the dragon directly in the chest, and to my surprise, it actually recoiled!

The thunder infused punch sent waves of energy through the black substance and the god's tentacles moved towards him.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Shazam said before following right after Superman, everyone else flew towards the void dragon right behind him.

Green Lantern's constructs are surprisingly weak in this universe. Any serious threat has a tendency to break them with ease. But he must have gotten a boost in will power because in a moment, he manifested a whole arsenal of missiles the size of buildings! You'd think they'd be of little consequence against something so ridiculously big but, when they landed all over its body, the explosions were massive!

"Suck on that you god damned monster!"

What the fuck is that kind of power boost?!

From the darkness, a large sight appeared on top of Green Lantern's head. But as it struck, he blocked right in time to save his life. Out of the portal, Meirleius stepped out, back from the dead..

"You healed your eyes, Lantern?" He mocked. Already starting the fight with taunts? Come on.

"I haven't forgotten what you did and I swear to you I'll pay you back, old man!" Green Lantern rushed in with the powers of both Shazam and will infused in a punch. The wizard tried to dodge it but I was there and blasting him with anti gravitons, I deleted his flight powers. Yet Lantern still missed as the wizard faded into a portal.

"Forces of hell I call on thee, Rise up and claim their souls to torment in hell fire!"

A portal appeared in front of us and large tentacles grabbed me. Green Lantern dodged and summoned a machine gun, shooting at both the thing and the wizard, but it wasn't very effective. I was panicking, just about to get sucked in fully when Aquaman arrived, the Trident of Neptune in hand. With a single slash, I was freed.

"This Trident really is something…" He muttered, before sending it flying like a javelin at the wizard as he was rematerializing. "Though it's best when used against smaller targets, that 'god' of yours is a bit too large to feel its strikes."

"You foolish mortals–"

It pierced his chest before he could finish, but we weren't done yet. A solid punch from me sent him flying into the moon's surface so hard that the bits of rock that flew off the low gravity satellite went into orbit. Then they crashed right back down as I channeled an immeasurable amount of gravity on them, seemingly crushing him under the weight, compressing the matter so much it began to melt into glass and lava.

Green Lantern formed a huge sword and drove it into the moon with him as well. Yet he somehow still persisted to laugh. Aquaman charged himself with the lightning of his new powers and, using his trident which was still deep in the wizard's chest, he channeled it in a single massive bolt of energy that came crashing down in an explosion of thunder and light.

For a few moments, there were no movements or sounds. And I was relieved. This plan to power up some of us through Shazam was a stroke of genius. An enemy we struggled against before was now easier than ever to defeat and with that, we could move on to the big fish.

Yeah, right. I wish. 

"WHEN WILL YOU LEARN?!"

I couldn't believe it. After everything, he still stood alive? It's like he grew more powerful then last time and that does not bode well at all…

Hal was still determined and with his power ring, materialized a whole arsenal of weapons. "What's he made out of? Nothing we do puts him down!" 

"I don't understand how we're supposed to win…" Arthur dashed forward to grab the trident out of Meirleius

"Fools, do you still not see?"

Suddenly, all the projectiles thrown at him were stopped mid air, Aquaman stopped himself right before entering the zone of effect. It was like time had frozen around him. Somehow, some fucking way, he turned around the will constructs towards us and shot them back. Lantern un-willed them just in time, but not before I was hit by a missile and sent flying a few miles back. The armor's automatic safety activated and my velocity instantly halted and I charged back in, still determined to fight.

"Old Dagon, by your might, let the dark waters rise and claim my enemies!"

"Oh shit."

Out of thin air, a whirlpool of dark and murky water rose and caught us in its spin, arms and jaws made of water began to grab and gnaw at my armor. Green Lantern created a submarine construct and began to send torpedoes at the wizard but it was to no avail. Arthur swam through the currents towards him while he was distracted and jumped out of the murky waters. He latched viciously to his back.

"Buddy, you should know that water and lightning don't work well together! SHAZAM!" And the thunder came down upon the wizard and him with full force, blasting away the waters and us at the same time. Yet still, like a cockroach, that damn wizard just refused to stay down and pushed away Aquaman. Power began to pour out of the wizard like a tidal wave of pure darkness. He was harnessing the void just like Requiem, it was clear. But how was he doing it?

Man, Why can't I do that too? Do I have to learn magic first or something?! This is so unfair.

Wait... That means we can't get rid of him either! He could just come back over and over again… I felt the dread rise inside of me at the thought.

"So it is true!" He said. "You did not yet realize, false one… You truly are as incompetent as he made you out to be! Don't you know?! THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM!"

No way he said that. I refuse.

"What is he talking about?!" Arthur groaned, bleeding on the floor. "SHAZAM!" He screamed and the power came back to him.

"You cannot kill or imprison me, surface dwellers! You would also have a hard time subduing me, I am far too powerful for you three to suffice. You should have called for your 'Boy scout' to come and aid you, but now…!"

Around him, a black armor began to form. Wings, a tail, horns, mother fucker was transforming mid battle. By the end of it, he stood at three times his original height with a body as black as his master's and overflowing with void mist and fumes. His eyes glowed a brilliant red. We are screwed.

"Behold your doom and salvation! Know despair before me, Meirleius, Apostle of Requiem!"

He rushed forward at blinding speeds and grabbed me first, threw me into the floor, then drove me deeper into the moon's crust so fast that the rock around us began to melt. With a straight kick to the gut, he sent me into the sky, formed a portal above us, grabbed me from above and brought me through the other side, right behind Hal. I didn't have the time to register much of anything before it was too late. Using me as an honest to god baseball bat, he sent Hal flying over the horizon.

"You know nothing…" He whispered.

Arthur wasn't yet done. A scream of rage burst forth from he who should have been the king of Atlantis and charged forward, reaching out to grab the Trident, still stuck in Meirleius's chest.

Awuaman screamed. "SHAZA-"

I heard a scream. Then a visceral crack.

I heard him crack.

"You know nothing of despair." 

He killed him…

"So let me show you… Let me break you. Today, I am your master. I am your GOD!"

He tossed the corpse away like it was nothing. And I… I screamed. All the things I imagined I wanted to do to him… All the things I will do to him! This mother fucking rando that came out of NOWHERE killed AQUAMAN!? HOW?! Not even a villain that comes from the normal canon DC universe, not Darkseid or the Antimonitor, not a god or a devil, no… a guy who shouldn't have existed in the first, a guy I brought into being…

Aquaman died because of me… And because of that thing calling itself my son. 

But this is not hopeless. I am not alone. I have others to help me and monsters like Requiem and Meirleius aren't meant to be fought alone. From seemingly nowhere, Wonder Woman appeared with sword in hand and shoved it up his babbling maw, before calling upon the name.

"SHAZAM!" And the thunder came down upon her and Meirleius, de transforming her and blasting the monster with divine power. "SHAZAM!" She called a second time, and a second time, thunder struck them, bringing the wizard to his knees and restoring her to the power of the gods.

But he refused to let go of my armor.

She ripped out Aquaman's trident from his chest and began to strike him again and again until suddenly, a force came from the heavens and brought his head to the floor, cracking and shattering the moon's surface for miles around us. The wizard ungripped me and, instinctively, I flew away, confused and quite a bit terrified. From the slowly settling dust, I saw my savior, the hero before heroes stood tall, the superman before superman, Heracles, son of Zeus, god of Strength and Heroes, right besides Wonder Woman.

"So this is the wizard I was told about?" He asked smugly. "Honestly, I hoped he'd be a challenge like the false god."

To be frank, even in this situation, seeing him here was kinda revolting. I remember reading somewhere what Heracles/Hercules did to the Amazons. I don't know how Wonder Woman can stand… standing anywhere near that guy. Fuck him.

"Where are Aquaman and Green Lantern?" Wonder asked as I landed beside her.

"Lantern's probably fine. And Aquaman… He died, we have to get him back-"

Heracles coughed softly, interrupting me. "I'm sorry for the loss of your companion, Iron man," No way he called me that. "But we have greater problems right now."

The demigod bent his knees and lowered himself nearly to the floor and in a single jump, he was out of the moon's gravitational pull and back in the fight against the dragon. Can't this guy fly? If not… Then how did he get up here on the moon?

"That guy's an ass." I sighed.

"Yeah…" Wonder Woman looked down upon her bracelets. There's a history with them and the former demigod. There is a reason they are called the bracelets of submission… "Tell me about it." Wonder Woman flew off right after him.

I mentally signaled the triad to send a drone to recuperate Arthur's body… If we survive today, he deserves a proper funeral… To think that had I been a little less greedy, had I settled for a simple life, none of this would have happened. All of the deaths since the first invasion of the Atlanteans are on me… And though I couldn't have known what my actions would lead to, I should have been able to guess that it wouldn't end well. 

I was about to follow after Wonder Woman when a mental transmission came to me. I heard the voice of Constantine. Something's very wrong.

"Everyone! We need some serious back up down here, there's this bloody strong dragon monster decimating us, I don't know if it's our main baddy's kid but we're getting screwed by that dragon man thing!"

"He's already back?!" I asked in panic.

"Who?!"

"It's the wizard! Its Meirleius!"

"What?! Well he's gotten a fancy makeover…"

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Of course he can come back so fast! I can't even come back as fast, that's so unfair!

I flew towards the battlefield and it was chaos, Amazons were getting decimated left and right by the wizard's void blasts. And he was doing that while fighting against Starfire! Cyborg, Constantine and Zatanna were doing their best against him from afar, but it was mostly ineffective.

Suddenly, a dozen drones came swooping in to help. I couldn't just watch from the side either. I joined them and together, we charged a condensed sphere of negative gravitons above him.

"Get out, step back all of you!" I screamed.

Meirleius raised his head towards us. But it was already too late.

Remember how with this armor I can fly at around a third of the speed of light? Once the attack connected, he flew into space much, much faster than that. When I said you need serious protection with those speeds when going in space, I wasn't lying. Atoms all around him instantaneously blew up when they came in contact with him due to the amount of energy he was transmitting. The light was so bright that I had to turn my head away. Usually in comic books that's an aspect of physics that is ignored but… I'm glad that it isn't in this world.

The sheer amount of radiation released would have been deadly if the drones hadn't created a shield over the area fast enough. I didn't even consider that could happen. If not for them, everyone around here would have been in either serious trouble or… would have gained new superpowers, I guess. Don't forget that radiation is weird in this world. I'm surprised no one that survived Hiroshima, Nagasaki or Chernobyl in the DC universe didn't get powers.

I flew down to help Starfire get to her feet, she was severely wounded.

"Cyborg, get her out of here right now." I ordered, looking up above at the rest of the league, still fighting against Requiem. "The wizard shouldn't be getting back any time soon, that much power would have at least sent him unconscious"

"On it. But are you sure about that? He has portals, remember?"

"True, stay alert, you see him anywhere around, you boom tube him as far away as possible… If only you could make moon sized portals. We could move our bad guy up there and our primary battle someplace the mage wouldn't find us…"

"Well, I could try, but that'd need a whole lot of power, like, a shit ton… And I don't have that right now."

"We really need to get working on an infinite energy source after this…"

He sighed.

"If there is anything left of us after this…"

Mentally, I called out to Raven. This can't keep going for much longer. We need a solution and we need it fast.

"Raven, what's going on up there? Any success?"

I heard yelps of pain.

"No! I can't do it… I'm not strong enough to seal him, his magic is different from everything I've encountered, similar but different, it interferes with my spell…"

How the fuck aren't you still strong enough?! You're literally our only plan! Why the fuck is that guys so OP and I'm here messing with gravity? I had to put in years of planning and hard work and studying to get to where I am and what did he have to work for? 

… We have no choice.

"Constantine?" I called out.

He was a few meters away, taking a breather at the edge of a lunar crater, he looked exhausted.

"Bloody hell, what is it? Can't a man catch a break?"

"Give her the helmet. Now."

His eyes widened.

"We're gonna die, huh. The lil girl still can't stop Requiem…"

"I'm at a loss of ideas now. If this doesn't work, then what will…?"

"Nothing will."

Time stopped. Sound and motion ceased all around me and even light began to fade until there was nothing left but… The void. It felt familiar, like in the Deep Black whenever I die. There was only terror as the darkness surrounded me. I turned around frantically, and there he was, having appeared out of thin air. Requiem.

"I'm… impressed, Neo Mundus. Really! Such a wonderful job surviving thus far… Only a few Amazons have died, most of my forces are severely crippled by every one of you maggots… Aquaman died too, not much of a loss though, am I right?"

I clenched my fist. Flying forward, I struck with all my might… And missed.

"To be honest, I didn't even see it coming, that Shazam trick of yours, very clever. Without it, I already would have won by now… I'm also surprised you'd work with gods. Hercules or Heracles, whatever… And Ares? Seriously? Now that was a shock, all of them and the others are actually giving me trouble too!" He sighed, his face plastered with a sardonic smile as he looked down on me. "Even still, all this effort was ultimately meaningless, wasn't it?"

"What the hell is happening!?"

His horrid chuckle resonated across the void. 

"Please. I'm not really talking to you right now, father. You know, classic mental intrusion mid battle done with the goal of tearing down the psyche of the protagonist? Usually it's not during combat but, who cares, am I right?" He laughed. "Ah, it's so good to be speaking with you, father. Good ol family bonding. Funny how it's only now I got to experience that."

"You don't even deserve to be called my son, you bastard. Why are you doing this? Do you honestly think you deserve to rule the universe? Do you really think yourself a god?"

"Oh, you insult poor mother, calling me a bastard like that… Was your love for her only an act? Did all the time you spent together mean so little to you that you would not even legitimize me?" He made a mock hurt face. "After everything you've gone through with her, you left for what, your superhero friends?"

Who even is your mother? The void? Isn't it great, the first girl I pull is literal nothingness. Does that mean I'm still a virgin?

Fucking hell. Fucking hell, I am going to kill him, he's gonna come back, then I"ll kill him AGAIN!

"So you really are my…" I couldn't even say it. I thought I had gotten used to the idea but, the truth was all other.

"I am!" He declared proudly. "Yes, father, I am the son you abandoned. No hard feelings though." He laughed again.

I scoffed. This monster should have never existed in the first place, I had no say in it coming to life or becoming a murderous fake god! If I had my way… If I had my way, he never would have been born.

"I admit, I am a bastard, by technicality and by actions." He continued as his eyes narrowed. "You don't understand yet. You don't realize that I wasn't just born from you." He laughed. Somehow, I knew what was coming next. "Father of mine, I am you."

"... Are you serious right now? There's no way my own son would be this cliche. I already disowned you long ago but now I double down on that. Come up with something good."

"You think this is a joke? Look around you. Look at me. Look at the prison you threw me in the moment I was born.. Who else would I have learned from if not you? Where else would my ambitions come from, my philosophies and morals?"

My dread increased as he kept speaking, the pieces of the puzzle coming into place.

"A Dark reflection of yourself. That is what I am. Yet even so… There are still things about you I do not know. Memories I do not have. I don't know your real name for example… But I know your friends, the people you care about in this world. Oh, how you care about them… Yet you haven't told them a thing about who you truly are, have you?"

"Actually, I did, kinda."

"Right. My point is, you and I are the same. Do you know why I think myself worthy to rule the multiverse?"

No way he's aiming that high.

"Because you are crazy? Do you think I give a damn?"

"No. Because you are crazy. Admit it." He stepped closer and closer. And I found that I could no longer move my body or even my gaze away from him. "Father, you are an idealist. You too think you know better than everyone else. You think you are the only one able to achieve your dreams… And so do I. The only difference is that I have very little limits on what I will do to get there. On who I will kill."

The implications were clear. This wasn't a threat but an announcement. He wants to take them all away from me… 

The darkness dissipated slowly and he too began to fade.

"Despair, father. It is your path to salvation. Only despair will show you the way to paradise. Only despair…"

The voices around me began to make themselves clearer. They were calling to me. 

Until finally, someone punched me.

"Wake the hell up, Mundus!" He screamed. I nearly punched him back but stopped myself before.

"Constantine... What is it?"

"What do you mean, "What is it"?! You were bloody frozen for a second, mate!" 

"...What did I miss?"

He smirked. 

"Look up."

And as I did, I saw the sky illuminated. Raven, wearing the helmet of Fate, the darkness of her magic and the light of Order were both fighting against the dragon alongside everyone else. Light, thunder, lasers, ankh and raven. The battle of the millennia.

And then from nowhere, he came. Growing in size, reaching higher and higher, the god of war now truly of godly proportions swung down his spear towards the beast's throat.This plan… it was working after all. Sure, our situation on the moon itself isn't great, Meirleius did a number on us. But… The smug bastard is getting his ass handed to him. 

As his… father, it's my duty to slap sense into him but, you know what they say. It takes a village to raise a child. So it's fine if it's them who do it for me. Not like I like the thing enough to care to punish it. Punishments are for people who can change, executions and imprisonments are for those who cannot. 

Requiem was losing mass. But that wasn't entirely to our advantage because he was also gaining in mobility.

On the ground, we were decimating the corrupted Atlanteans as well as their long range energy weapons with flash on the ground with us, that was made even easier, if not for the countless traps they laid within their ranks especially for him. The Kaiju were easy to deal with when multiple drones worked together to send them flying into space. Whatever void magic was animating and empowering them all didn't seem to bring them back to life. 

"Alright, I'm off… I don't know if I can help much but I'll try my best to support them…" I turned towards Cyborg. "Now's the time, send every Amazon away from the battle, me and the drones are going, I have a plan."

Hundreds. We are hundreds with the capacity to manipulate gravity like it's nothing. Theoretically, if I were to use every bit of graviton I have in reserve, I'd be able to lift whole mountains. A dozen of us would be able to move entire continents… Hundreds of us? If we all do our best and assume he doesn't react in time…

"Actuator, calculate the amount of time it would take to drag that dragon to the sun."

"Five minutes, which is to say, he would have the time to recuperate for good or use magic to counter such a maneuver. Imaginator already proposed it but-"

"Didn't you guys take into consideration…That we can just fill up on gravitons with the sun? The sheer gravitational force of a star generated in a single minute… Wouldn't all of us together have enough range to wield that much force?"

"... Yes." Actuator confirmed.

Interpreter quickly joined the conversation. "With five minutes, we could shoot him into the sun fast enough that he wouldn't be able to react."

I'm only human, I can't expect my creations to be perfect. Though I'm surprised I thought of this and Imaginator didn't… How?

"It wouldn't kill him…" Imaginator declared. "Even if it did, killing him isn't what we're trying to do."

True.

"I know that it won't, I just want to weaken him enough for Raven to get this over with faster. The longer this goes on, the riskier things get for us… Talking about time, Where the hell are you, Imaginator? Where is your new armor? It's been eons."

"Unless you want me to accidentally shatter space time wherever I go, you'll have to wait for me to finish." His tone was harsh, did he develop an attitude or something?

"What do you mean by "me"? You're working on it by yourself?! I didn't make you three to work on your own!"

He didn't answer. None of them did. Maybe it was shame, regret, anger? I don't know. But right before I could finish talking, I heard countless boom tubes opening all at once, then rapidly closing. Finally, everyone was gone. The Atlanteans looked around in confusion. It doesn't matter anymore. The only reason we complied with the idea of this stupid war was because we feared what he might do if the battle was waged on earth… Too many people have lost their lives already. But now, it's too late, things have already started and Requiem can't just send them all to follow after them on earth. Now we can focus. The only people left on the moon are the league, Cyborg, Constantine, Zatanna and Blue beetle. Everyone else is gone.

The real fight is in the sky now and we're about to show this false god why no one ever succeeds at taking over the multiverse.