Ultimate Fourth World #2

Almost a hundred feet below the dark stone bastions of the planetary palace, below the military academies and the blazing foundries, torture chambers, armouries and guard posts, down twisted staircases and hidden ways long forgotten, was the maximum security detention facility of Apokolips. As Barda descended down the cramped staircase, she felt the familiar uncomfortable rush of warm air that signified she had reached the lowest levels of the massive complex. Here was the palace closest to the colossal firepit that provided power for the entire sector- rumour had it that if one stood here in dead silence, one could even hear the screams of the slaves as dozens died every hour, unable to turn the turbines and engines fast enough to appease their ruthless masters.
She had once heard Kalibak remark it was his favorite place in the palace. As for her... it just made her nauseous.

Pushing aside her inner doubts and ignoring the rank odour which rose to her nostrils, she stepped down from the final stair and placed her hand onto the panel beside the door. A tiny blade immediately pushed into her thumb, drawing blood, but she ignored it and removed her hand. The pain was meaningless, though she could not enjoy it as Granny had always told her. After a second, the door recognized her blood type and opened at once. She entered…
...And immediately paused, alert. A slightly different smell was in the air along with the usual sweat and vomit that could be detected anywhere in the prisons. Almost imperceptible but just enough, a slightly greasy smell that…
.
“Kanto,” she pronounced aloud. It was not a question.

“It took you longer than I anticipated, Barda…” came a smooth, arrogant voice from her right, and she turned to find the expert assassin standing with his back lazily against one of the thick stone walls, a mocking sneer on his face. “I would have thought that the ‘chief of the female furies’”- He invested these words with heavy scorn- “…would have been able to detect my presence from outside.” Her expression hardened and she raised the Mega Rod to point at his chest.

“Do not tempt me, clown,” she responded angrily, restraining her desire to blast this pathetic little New God from the face of the planet. He, for his part, did not look worried in the slightest- on the contrary, he looked rather bored.

“Yes, yes, or you’ll kill me. I’m sure. Please.” He arched his eyebrow confidently. “I am no Granny Goodness to be too blinded by my own self worth to notice the signs, nor a Virman Vunderbarr to be easily placated by the appearance of what I want to see. We both know how you truly feel about killing, Barda. Your little façade does not deceive me.”

An automatic snarl crossed Barda’s face and she suddenly lunged forwards, grabbing Kanto by the collar and thrusting him roughly against the wall, and now the Mega Rod was an inch from his face.

“You know nothing, worm,” she spat. “You truly suggest that you know more than almighty Darkseid?” For a moment, she was rewarded with the slightest spasm of fear across the man’s face, but then it was gone, replaced with his signature smirk.

“What our lord knows and what he pretends he knows are two different things, Barda.” He hissed. “And the day will come soon when we shall see just how much he knows about you.” His eyes flickered down to her hand on his neck. Slowly, she relaxed her ferocious temper, reminding herself that not even the leader of the Female Furies would be allowed to kill one of Darkseid’s Elite. As soon as she had set him down, the smaller man withdrew towards the door with a flourish of one hand.

“Enchanting as ever, Barda. Until we meet again...” And then he was gone.

Shoulders still shaking with barely repressed rage, she returned to the reason she had been sent here, crossing the floor towards the first cell. Calm yourself, Barda. Showing anger… it’s exactly what the slime wants. She could not allow herself to think of his words, however much they might continue to ring inside her head. No, she had to focus on what was important- the will of her lord. And that will was that, for reasons passing understanding, she was to personally guard this particular prisoner from now on- the mysterious Scott Free, whoever he was. She couldn’t repress a brief grim smirk at the irony. Now there was an inappropriate name if ever she had heard one- she had to repress a brief smirk at the irony. He was in the dungeons of Apokolips. He would never be “free” again.



Far above the cool green plains of New Genesis there floated a city so different it may as well have been on an entirely different world. It hung in the sky hundreds of feet above the ground, a glittering palace amidst the clouds which seemed to go on for an age. Though the structure was physically massive, it gave off a glittering radiant light, absorbing the energy from the Sun’s rays and passing them down to the land below so that the vegetation and animals could continue to live on under it’s orbit. And this structure was a city like no other in the universe, a shining gem on the paradise world below. It blazed with the light of a thousand colours, a city hovering in the sky and gleaming with gold and emerald and sapphire- thousands of weird and wonderful buildings were upon it, giving it winding skyways between curving skyscrapers and tranquil parks- for beauty and art were the primary concerns in the construction of all buildings there. The New Gods of New Genesis
had moved to the city centuries ago to avoid despoiling their world’s natural beauty and maintained it’s self sustaining environment as best they could. It was their planet’s only city- their crowning achievement, their most magnificent triumph. It was Supertown. And in the very centre of the shining metropolis there floated the great Sky-Garden and Palace of the planet’s master- Highfather Izaya..

At this very moment, he stood in that same skygarden with a vast cluster of young Gods. “Please, please, children…” he beckoned to them, a smile on his creased face which looked, despite it’s wrinkles and the grey mane which framed it, as though he were many centuries less than his true age. As he spoke, he raised his crooked staff high for emphasis, squatting down and speaking to the youths as though they were all equals. “Settle! I will tell you the story today, as I promised I would.” Almost at once, the children were quiet, staring at their leader and teacher through wide, disc-like eyes. When he was certain they were all sitting carefully, he began.

“I told you before of the Old Gods, of their achievements, of their greatness- and of the time that came when the Old Gods died. Today, I will tell you of how we began.”

He raised his staff, and a glimmering hologram shone into existence in the centre of the garden, provoking a collective gasp from the young ones.

“After the final release of indescribable power which marked the demise of the Old Gods, as I told you before, the remains of their world split in two.” As he spoke, the holographic image showed one globe divided into two flaming ruins, debris scattered between them. “In the end, there were two molten bodies, spinning slow and barren- clean of all that had gone before- adrift in the fading sounds of cosmic thunder.” He had their rapt attention as they stared in unabashed awe at the hologram, unable to tear their eyes away. He lowered his voice dramatically.
“Silence closed upon what had happened- a long, deep silence- wrapped in massive darkness. It was this way for an age…” He lowered his voice to a mere whisper, looking around from face to face, his expression grave. “Then…” he spoke so quietly that they had to lean closer to hear, the hologram now showing nothing at all.

“THERE WAS NEW LIGHT!” he roared dramatically, and threw his arms up, and as he did there was an eruption of light from the holographic display and the children fell back in shock- and in that exact instance, there was an almost imperceptible sucking sound- a faint and almost imperceptible drop in pressure. Then there was a thunderous boom and a corridor of energy erupted in the air in the midst of the garden. Now the children screamed in genuine terror, throwing themselves onto the ground or raising an arm to protect themselves. The hologram blinked out and Izaya stood up, his expression suddenly unreadable.

Then a scowling Orion with a frowning Lightray in his wake emerged from the Boom Tube, which vanished almost immediately.

“You wished to see us, Highfather?”



As Scott Free opened his eyes again, he thought for a moment he could see pain. It was a red haze swimming before his eyes, a sharp feeling in his body which never seemed to go away. Pain was with him at all times, as it always had been, a constant reminder of his grim situation and of the cruelty of Granny Goodness. Of course, his situation didn’t improve all that much from his twisted nightmares when he opened his eyes. A dull red stone walled cell, with black metal bars. The same sight, give or take a few extra security features, he had seen every day for the last fifty years of his life. He was not far into adulthood by his people’s reckoning- at least, he didn’t think so anyway. Not that it mattered, really, since New Gods could not die of old age. So Granny had told him as she tormented him, mocking the fact that he would be there forever and she would always be there to drive fear into them.

But he didn’t fear Granny. He hadn’t in a very long time- now when he thought of her hideous withered face he could summon only contempt. Despite her bluster, she could not break him. She had tried for years, inflicting all her hideous tortures and cruelties, all her conditioning and brainwashing in the depths of the X-pit, but despite it all, Scott Free had refused to break and so he had been tossed here to rot in the depths of Darkseid’s palace until… well, for eternity, he supposed. It was because he was so accustomed to this torment that he could push aside his pain with ease- he had long trained himself to ignore it. He couldn't let pain impede his breakout, after all.

Unwillingly, he let out a groan as he tried to move- it brought a surge of fresh agony to him, a strong reminder from the last time he had tried to escape. Gritting his teeth, he moved anyway, shifting forwards to see what scrap had been left for him today, while summoning the will to shove the pain to it's familiar place at the edge of his consciousness, where it did not trouble him.

“So,” came a voice from one side. He stiffened- it was unfamiliar. Female, he thought- not that he had much experience- but fairly deep for a female, and cold… without being cruel. That’s strange… he mused. Why did I think that? He shrugged it off- on Apokolips, everyone was cruel. It was the only way to survive. “You are the famed Scott Free?”

With some awkwardness, he turned his head to see the speaker standing outside the thick bars of his cell. He still did not recognize her, but one look told him she was of the female furies, some of Granny’s cruelest minions. She wore heavy battle armor which implied she was high up in the ranks, with an ornate headdress and massive weapon. Her face was pretty too, he noticed, shockingly so, but that mattered little. Lashina was beautiful too, and she was also bitingly cruel. He had suffered much at her whip in one of Granny’s constant attempts to destroy his spirit.

“At your service,” he rasped. It was intended to be a defiant taunt, but he had not had water in some time and so his throat was parched. “And who… who has been given the task of guarding me today?” She cocked her head slightly, almost a sneer on her lips- though it seemed forced to him. Automatic, though he could not say why.

“My name is Barda. But why should you care, prisoner?” Scott forced a smile through cracked lips.

“Simple… I want to know who I’ll be taking out in order to escape today, Barda.”



An ever so slight frown creased Highfather’s face as he surveyed the two younger New Gods who now stood in the centre of the sky-garden. After a moment, he turned to the cowering children, his expression softening a little- though not completely.

“It’s all right, young ones. It is only Orion and Lightray.” Slowly, one by one they peeked through their hands to verify, and then cautiously sat up. Had it been Lightray alone, Highfather reflected, they probably would have ran to greet him. But Orion… the children were more wary of Orion. For good reason.

“If you’ll excuse me, children, I shall resume our story in a moment.”

He stepped forwards, gesturing to the two new arrivals with his staff as he walked slowly up the steps that led to the palace. They followed without question. As they climbed the flight, Highfather restrained himself, waiting until they walked through the pillars of the main hall. It was then he spoke at last,

“I was in the middle of teaching….”

“You were the one to summon us, Highfather,” retorted Orion. Izaya closed his eyes for a second. Source give me strength… and give this one patience.

“There was no need to scare the children so,”

“I did not give much thought to whether the youths would be scared or not,”

“No, you did not, and that is what troubles me. But that is for another time- there is good reason for you to be here.”

They passed the usual turn for Izaya’s quarters, and Orion and Lightray shared a meaningful glance. At last, they came to the corridor’s end. Here there was but a single pair of doors, not grand and majestic like the rest of the building. Two wooden doors, the size of a tall man, which were ancient but had not withered. With a bow of his head, Izaya opened them gently and stepped in. The three New Gods entered the revered chamber of the Source, the room at the very centre of Supertown. It was a medium sized room carved in a perfect circle, with almost nothing in it save at it’s centre. Here, there was a raised platform and on it, dominating the chamber, was a seemingly unconnected expanse of wall, made as it seemed from pure white stone. But there were no markings on it, no etchings at all. It stood gleaming and untouchable, with no signs of nature or time taking any effect on it.. It was the direct conduit between Highfather and the mysterious, ethereal all-knowing Source. The Source Wall.

“The Source Wall bade me summon you, Orion,” Highfather told him quietly. “You know it gives counsel in times of trouble… and the Wall has counsel for you.” Orion nodded slowly, brow furrowed. Patience was not something that came easily to him, so he stepped forward at once.

“I am here, Almighty Source,” he growled. “What message do you have for the Dog of War?”

All three of them watched, transfixed- even Highfather, who had seen it many times before- as a disembodied white hand appeared seemingly out of nowhere… No. Appeared was not the right word. It was simply… there. As though it had always been. And it began writing on the face of the unblemished wall, carving in a message in flaming letters a foot high. But there were only ten simple words carved in this day- ten definitive words, plain and direct.





“…Escape?” repeated Barda incredulously, her eyebrows lifting. This prisoner was either very stupid, or had a very strange sense of… sense of… what was it that last prisoner had called it? Who-Mur? Either way, she felt she had to bitterly let him down. “This facility is the most secure complex on the twin worlds. These bars have an energy field which renders them indestructible to all but the most deadly of Apokoliptian weapons. You have no equipment, you have no allies, you can’t even get out of your cell let alone this complex, let alone this world, and you’re being personally guarded by the Captain of the Female Furies trained by Granny Goodness herself.” She folded her arms. “You’re not going anywhere.” The bewildering Scott Free gave a smirk at that and shrugged his shoulders, seeming to refrain from a wince as he did so.

“Always did like a challenge.”

Barda stared hard at him- didn’t he understand? How could be so mirthful? Was he simply dense?

“There is no challenge. You cannot escape. Short of a miracle, there is no way out.”
At that, his grin widened.

“Now there’s the problem. See the thing is… miracles are my speciality.”
Barda leaned forward in curiosity to see what he meant- could he possibly be as foolhardy as he sounded?

That was her first mistake.

She knew it as soon as she saw him spring up at a speed faster than anyone in his condition could possibly move. His hands reached through the bars to seize her wrists and instinctively, she tightened her grip on her weapon. He’s going for the Mega Rod! She was so intent on keeping him from grabbing it that she was unprepared for him to tug- if she’d been ready, she might have thought to balance but as it was she found herself falling forwards. Her MegaRod scraped the bars… which promptly burst apart, unable to withstand her weapon’s power. Before she could recover, he dived through the new gap, brushing her glove as he did so, and leapt to his feet behind her. Whirling, she clenched her teeth, MegaRod raised. He was smart, this one- and resourceful. She hadn’t seen anyone move that fast. But he was still trapped.

“What have you accomplished? There’s a four foot thick security door to get out of this block, and five more between you and the stairs. You’re not getting out of here, prisoner.” But once again, he flashed her that oh-so-irritating grin.

“Right you are. Unless of course, one has proper… authorization..” And with that, he raised the hand he had brushed against hers- and there was a smear of her blood upon it. For a moment, she could not help but gape- this God pulled out new surprises every second, it seemed.

“How… how could you have…?” In response, all Scott Free did was wink at her.

“Miracles, Barda.” He turned to push the sample into the requisite panel; “It’s been a blast!”

He was part way through another wink when the door smashed open and he was floored by a massive, ravening death-hound. The monster sprang onto his breast as he cried out, salivating over him, massive jaws ready to strike, yellow eyes wild. Almost instinctively, Barda raised the MegaRod to point at it. After a split second, she lowered it, bewildered by whatever instinct had made her take such an action.

“Control yourself, Captain,” came a familiar mocking voice. She looked up to see Granny Goodness standing in the doorway, sneering down at the trapped Scott who was still struggling to escape the guard creature.

“I must say, Scott, I’m impressed. I had thought for sure Captain Barda could keep you in check. I’m sure she’ll do better next time…she wouldn’t want to let Granny down now, would she?” Her eyes glared menacingly at Barda, who nodded, stone-faced in reply. She would not fail again- she had no idea why she had fallen to the prisoner’s simple ruse so easily this time. It was a weakness she would have to examine in her downtime. Which, after this failure, would not be for quite a while.

“You forgot, Scott…” hissed Granny, looking triumphantly down at her prisoner. “Miracles don’t happen on Apokolips.”



Two lone Gods flew through the bare skies of New Genesis, alone in the pale blue skies, which were undisturbed by smog or the thick black smoke of Armagetto.

“Orion?” Lightray flew after his friend, struggling to keep up with the Astro-Harness. “Orion!”

“Not in the mood, Lightray,” shot back the red-clad God of War. His best friend was very dear to him, even if he never let it show, but there were times he just wanted to be left alone and this was such a time, hence his erratic flight path. Lightray put on an extra burst of speed, swooping into his friend’s path.

“Orion. The Source Wall…”

“The Source Wall is never wrong, Lightray.”

“The Source Wall speaks in riddles, Orion. It says you shouldn’t return home, maybe that means you shouldn’t leave it, maybe…”

“I will not risk Supertown’s survival on a selective interpretation of the Source, Lightray. It was very clear- if I stay on New Genesis, this world will fall. Everyone we know- you, Magnar, Bekka, everyone will die.”

“You don’t know that. The future is not written in stone!” Orion barked a laugh.

“No, it’s written in flame. And we just saw it.”

Shaking off Lightray’s hand, he brought out Mother Box.

“Boom Tube, Mother,” he told it clearly. And at once, the tunnel of life roared into existence before them. Lightray floated still, an expression of regret and confusion on his face.

“Where will you go?” He asked at last.

“Where do you think?” Orion asked scornfully. “Darkseid has had free reign over the space lanes for too long. I’m going to ambush the ambushers, and I’m going to kill them. As long as I don’t return, the planet won’t fall.” He turned to enter the boom tube.

“Wait!” called Lightray. The God of War hesitated for just a moment. “I’m coming with you,” his friend said, without hesitation. Orion looked back at him and made to open his mouth. Then he saw the expression on the younger God’s face and closed it again, a wellspring of emotion rushing up inside him.

“Let’s… let’s go…” he growled quietly, unable to express himself. Side by side, they entered the glowing tube and left New Genesis behind.



“Highfather,” the golden form of the New God named Magnar bowed low to his lord, some confusion on his face. “Forgive me, Highfather, but… was it wise to let him go?”
Standing where he had been since Orion left, looking at the sky with an unreadable expression, Highfather slowly shook his head.

”No. But he is not yet ready to hear the truth. And I am not ready to tell it and destroy his world.” He turned to return to the children in the skygarden. “We live in a time of Prophecy and mystery, Magnar. What will be… will be. And we are all at the Source’s mercy now…”

TO BE CONTINUED….

ORION and LIGHTRAY take on Darkseid’s forces! BIG BARDA continues to guard the enigmatic SCOTT FREE. But what is his secret? Why does Darkseid want him? What dark truth is Highfather concealing from Orion? Just what WAS Kanto doing in that dungeon anyway? All this next issue, and… who is the mysterious METRON?