Consequences of Greed

"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"

Terror, pure terror. That was the only way I could give you a proper description of what I was feeling but even then, it couldn't even begin to describe the true depths of what I was feeling. This was Doomsday, the guy that routinely beat the shit out of the Justice League, a guy who was able of fighting Darkseid to a standstill. A guy who has consistently been shown to be one of the biggest threats in all of the DC universe.

And me? I'm just a guy who doesn't even have full control over his powers. How the fuck am I meant to survive? Fuck winning, the question of me getting off this planet in one piece was a matter of impossibility.

'I can't win.' Thoughts similar to this were the only thing running through his mind at this point in time. Such an obvious conclusion with no real way for me to gain anyway to avoid this scenario, except to run. But with the way the rest of the Kryptonians were shaking and praying to Rao, it was a thought they were also considering themselves.

That was something I could not allow. I only needed one thing and then I'd be kissing this planet forever and putting as much distance between me and Doomsday as possible. To do that, I needed this traitors to act as bait.

Gulping down the lump that had formed in my throat, I tried to calm myself, only partially succeeding. "Doomsday, it's still alive." I finally managed to mutter out, thankful that none of my fear showed in my voice. "Now's our chance to avenge those who were killed by this beast. It must be weakened if Bertron has only decided to release it now when all of his three creatures have been defeated."

That was a lie, I knew that Doomsday had a healing factor and besides, he had been killed by Zod. Meaning that Doomsday had been revived and was now fully healed and now immune to the Kryptonian Armour of House Zod and to having his head cut off. But my words seemed to have sparked something in a few of the Kryptonians around, mainly those that had lost families to Doomsday in the assault of Krypton.

"Besides, its strengths does have limits," another lie, Doomsday had limitless strength. Much like the Hulk, his strength was determined by his feelings, I'm not sure though but it's what I can theorise considering his strengths varies from version to version. So it was entirely possible that much like the Hulk, the stronger the rage he felt, the more powerful he was. "In an enclosed space, we hold the advantage with numbers and superior weaponry. Use the narrow corridors to our advantage and pin it down with heavy weapons."

I didn't expect them to succeed in defeating Doomsday, in fact, I would argue that it would be far from the truth. I expected and wanted them to die, every single one of the traitors. But I needed them to keep Doomsday occupied so that I could get the yellow sun machine, despite fearing Doomsday, I couldn't allow that to escape my grasp. But once I did, I'd escape on one of the ships as quickly as I could, I wouldn't even bother killing any of the traitors, nor would I destroy their ships, I had every intention of just fleeing from this planet as soon as possible.

"Gather your courage men!" Rux-Ze ordered. "We bring down the beast once and for all!" Yet despite his words, the response was lacklustre and dulled. None of them were particularly happy as they made their way into the mountain. I myself followed behind at the back of the group, all of them so focused on the coming fight with Doomsday that they had seemed to have forgotten about me. Or maybe they expected me to fight alongside? That was an amusing thought, I had no intention of fighting Doomsday in the slightest.

That was suicidal.

-X- Line Break -X-

Captain Ral-Gax cautiously looked around, Direct Energy Rifle raised as he scanned his surroundings carefully. His heart pounded in his chest, threatening to burst free and he felt sick to the bottom of his stomach. There was nothing natural about this feeling, but he'd felt this way once before.

He was a young boy at the time, no older than five when he watched that beast, Doomsday tear his mother in half. Both of its large hands gripped hold of her hands and pulling, skin tearing, bones exposed, her organs spilling out onto the floor as he held both halves of her body in the air. His father, terrified of this sight, could do nothing as Doomsday threw his mother to the side and then punched him.

Seeing your father explode into a shower of blood and gore that splattered over you was truly a nauseating sight, one that Ral-Gax had neither forgotten nor overcome. It still played in his nightmares, haunting his every moment.

This terror he felt while great was smothered by the rising rage he could feel brewing within the surface. He would avenge his parents and bring the head of Doomsday back to Commander Rux-Ze, then his revenge would be complete. He had no desire for anything else, no promotion, no glory, only the sweet desire for revenge and no matter what, he'd get it.

Hearing a thump down at the end of the silent corridor, Ral-Gax rose one fist, bringing his unit to a halt. A quick signal and the group of twelve men moved into position, lining the either side of the corridor with guns raised.

"Single round, fire." He ordered and a single energy round was launched down the dark corridor, illuminating the corridor.

There was nothing.

"Again."

Nothing.

"Again."

Nothing.

"Again."

Nothing.

*Thump*

Just as Ral-Gax had been about to give the order once more, he went silent. All of them shifted nervously, sharing glances as they looked down, squinting in an attempt to see what had made the noise. There was nothing.

"Again."

Nothing came into sight, but the sound returned.

*Thump*

*Thump*

"Move back, five metres." Completing his order and putting more distance between them and the sound, Ral-Gax once again turned, gun raised. "Single round, fire."

"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"

Ral-Gax's eyes widened in shock as the roar came echoing down the corridor. Closer to it than before, they were unable to remain on their feet and were flung through the air, smashing into walls and the floor before collapsing to the ground in a heap. Clutching his pounding head in pain, Ral-Gax looked around with blurry vision, picking up the sight of three of his comrades, dead. One with his head completely smashed open and another two with necks snapped, a result of their harsh collision against the walls no doubt.

It was then he picked up flashes of light, turning to see a screaming and tearful soldier firing his gun down the corridor in a desperate attempt to stop the charging Beast. Yet the rounds didn't even stall the creature as he barreled through them and eventually smashed aside, limp and broken body smashing against the wall with a wet splat. Blood and gore spraying up the side and showering them all.

"Captain! What do we do?!" But Ral-Gax had no answer as Doomsday closed in upon them.

-X- Line Break -X-

"Commander, we've just lost track with Captain Ral-Gax and his squadron." Hearing that information only confirmed my suspicions, Doomsday really was here. While Kryptonians weren't powerful when exposed to their own atmosphere, which was what the suits and helmets they wore provided them, they were not to be taken lightly.

We fought differently after all, but by no means were we weak. After all, two squadrons of Kryptonians had managed to wipe out near three hundred proto-Doomsdays with very little effort. So for a single squad to be annihilated in a matter of moments, there was only one option considering the current circumstances. But that was just fine, with one squadron annihilated so quickly, Rux-Ze would have to send more in order to slow Doomsday down while they still prepared the heavy weaponry.

"Send two squadrons down to intercept the creature, we need to hold off until our heavy weaponry is ready." And just like I had expected, Rux-Ze gave the order. He certainly wasn't the most talented of men, but he had great discipline and understanding of tactics, it's one of the reasons he had been promoted to Captain and no doubt the reason he was promoted to the position of Commander.

"Tell me something," I said, moving forwards to stand beside him, my gaze occasionally flickering over to where men were dismantling the machines around them, especially those near the yellow sun machine. It was a suggestion I had made that should we fail to kill Doomsday that there would be information somewhere in here that could prove useful to defeating Doomsday in the future. Rux-Ze had agreed, not that I had expected any differently, but that wasn't my aim.

No, my aim was simple, get out with the yellow sun as quickly as possible before Doomsday arrived. Using the soldiers around me to delicately remove it only worked in my favour while also making my plans less obvious. If I started working on the yellow sun machine questions might be raised and I didn't want that all.

"Did you all betray me?" Yet despite the situation at hand, I needed to know this one thing.

"No." Rux-Ze eventually answered after some deliberation. "There were those who could not do so and others who were hesitant but reluctantly agreed to save their families. But there were a few who refused to betray you even then."

"And what happened to them?" The silence I received was all the answer I needed and I gave a humourless chuckle. "I see, not only did you betray me, but you also killed your brothers. I thought I had trained you better that our bond forged in the war against the Vrangs was stronger. Was it a public execution?"

Again there was silence.

But I suppose, in this situation, that I now had more information and had learned a valuable lesson. Just because the movies portrayed soldiers as all being brothers in arms, didn't mean that was the case. It was something to keep in mind for the future. Yet above all that, I had no reason to return to Krypton after this.

I had asked myself this a few times, what would I do to save Krypton from its destruction. I had initially tried to work within the parameters of the Council of Five to do so, rising up through the Kryptonian Military and eventually become the head of the Military Guild. But that had backfired spectacularly and even now, I had wondered whether I should return and save others. Yet after hearing what Rux-Ze had told me, I didn't feel like returning.

When my true comrades had been killed, it had been publicly and I had been around Krypton enough to know that the vast majority wouldn't care. In fact, I wouldn't put it past them to cheer the deaths of my comrades. All proclaiming them as traitors without even knowing the truth.

And it was in that moment I picked up the sound of movement, heavy footsteps to be exact. It was too far away for anyone else to hear it, but I could. And I knew that it could mean only one thing, Doomsday was coming.

"Well, I thank you for making my decision much easier."

Rux-Ze looked to me questioningly "What do you mean?" I turned away, keeping my lips sealed as I watched the soldiers began to slowly edge the machine away from the wall, the pipes leading out from the large cylinder of yellow liquid and out into the wall of the mountain becoming taut. Then they moved around, carefully working to undo the tubes.

"Commander, we've got movement!"

"What?!" Rux-Ze spun around. "What happened to the two squads we sent?!"

"We don't know sir, they're not responding!" The aid urgently pointed out. "But somethings heading our way." Smirking, I looked to the heavy weapons still being prepped and they'd take a little time to charge. Just as I wanted, I needed Doomsday and the Kryptonians to fight each other and if possible in the case of the former, weakened so that I could escape easily.

"Prepare to engage it," I spoke up. "Our heavy weapons aren't fully charged and we're going to need them if we want to escape alive."

Rux-Ze grit his teeth before nodding his head, turning and barking orders at his soldiers, all of which began to form ranks and lines facing down the dark tunnel. Fortunately, there were still a few soldiers tasked with undoing the machinery around the room, two of which were working at the yellow sun machine.

That's when I heard it, we all did.

"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"

Even as I heard the order to fire, I turned away. I could hear the hum of the heavy weapons whirling to life and following the energy rounds down the corridor, slamming into Doomsday with enormous amounts of force. But I could also hear the sounds of Doomsday roaring anger, charging towards them.

It was time to leave and quickly.

Closing the gap between me and the workers, I grabbed one by the back of his head and drove him headfirst into the ground. It was done with the intent of knocking him out, but I underestimated my own strength and their head exploded into a shower of gore, I reflexively shook my hand in order to get the bits of brain stuck to it. Thus leaving me exposed to an energy round to a face, courtesy of the Direct Energy Pistol raised in my direction by the recently deceased man's partner.

I responded by grabbing his head in one hand.

Certainly, Kryptonian Armour was durable, a single set was all a Kryptonian would need to last them through a lifetime of battles and it would still provide excellent protection. However, the helmets were the only weak point to said armour, nothing more than a barrier that could be broken quite easily as seen previously and currently.

All it took was a momentary bout of resistance before it failed and I crushed the head of the man in my grip with ease. Almost like squishing a grape in a way.

And at that moment, everything went to shit, because that's when Doomsday barrelled into the room. I turned, instincts screaming and I watched it all unfold. Its large form smashed into the ranks of Kryptonians, flinging dozens of them back as a result of the shockwave, those directly in front of its path being crushed underfoot.

Those who unluckily managed to survive were sent flying away in broken heaps by a single swipe of its hands, among them was Rux-Ze.

As it stood victorious, its gaze sweeper across the room till its red eyes locked onto my own blue ones. And in this situation, when Doomsday itself looked at me with the eyes of a savage predator finding its next prey, only one phrase came to mind.

"Ah shit.