CRISIS #13: Wonder Woman #10

Darkseid was angry.

And when the Lord of Apokolips was angry, his hellish realm quaked in fear. The fire-pits flared and the factories that churned out nothing but despair and death smoked and never went dark… The mindless theta-drones shambled like sheep to work his will. The lowlies cowered in Armagetto, and the parademons filled the sky.

The war on Earth was going well--- but he had hoped it would have been long since concluded. The heroes of this planet had proven to be more troublesome than he had anticipated. Steppenwolf was having great success, but too many setbacks. Even the General’s own command post, Gotham City, was suddenly insecure now… Kanto had yet to bring him the head of the Bat--- and even more disturbing, the Hunger Dog revolt in Armagetto had launched assault after assault on his own palace complex, and his dog soldiers reported seeing the symbol of the Bat spray-painted on walls and street corners.

And worst of all, the thing that annoyed Darkseid the most, was the raid on his palace that had freed the Oan, Kryptonian and the Martian. Oh, Desaad had long since extracted the information he needed from them, but the insult must be repaid. The battle with the so-called Captain Marvel had cost him much. The affrontery--- to attack him in his own throne room! Darkseid had a very special hell reserved for the heroes of Earth…

“My dread lord!”

Desaad scurried into the tower chamber from where the Lord of Apokolips surveyed his tumultuous kingdom. Darkseid turned from the observation window, his nostrils filled with the stench of burning flesh from below, and glared down at his lackey. Desaad groveled, still smarting from his failure with the Infernal Machine (something else the heroes of Earth would answer for!), but seemed strangely jubilant.

“You had better have good news, worm. I am in a killing mood.”

Desaad trembled, but replied. “Mighty Darkseid, while I would deem it an honor to perish at your whim, I do indeed bear good news--- Big Barda has returned!”

“Desaad, you try my patience…” Began Darkseid, but as he spoke, the captain of the Female Furies, his special elite guard, entered the chamber, dragging behind her a prisoner, stumbling and weighed down with heavy chains.

“Mighty Darkseid!” Saluted Big Barda. “I give you the son of the Highfather, himself! Scott Free!”

The prisoner was thrown to the floor at the feet of Darkseid. He lifted his head, blood on his face, but his eyes defiant.

Sudden satisfaction suffused the Lord of Apokolips. At last! Here he was--- the one who had evaded him for so long, ever since he had discovered the secret he harbored in his DNA…

At last. The Anti-Life Equation was in his grasp!

The impact left a crater dozens of feet in diameter, taking out acres of trees on the outskirts of Gotham. It was a long, smoking scar on the ground, the hole still steaming where they had come to finally rest.

Wonder Woman regained consciousness first, and struggled to merely lift her head.

They had been set upon as soon as they had hit Earth’s upper atmosphere. Every Apokoliptian warship had zeroed in on them, opening fire on them simultaneously. Green Lantern had thrown up a shield around them, but even his indomitable willpower was sorely tested under such an assault. It took a concentrated effort from all of them, including the barely conscious Superman and Martian Manhunter, to escape the fearsome barrage and outdistance the attack.

But the landing had been rough. It appeared that Green Lantern had been able to cushion their fall to earth, but it had taken a toll. The rookie hero was out cold, his ring still glowing and sputtering as if straining for release. Both Superman and Martian Manhunter were sprawled out in the crater, but appeared to be breathing. The Oan didn’t look alive at all…

Diana managed to stagger to her feet, just as she became aware of the low hum of an approaching engine. It had not taken the enemy long to pinpoint their position! She stood, unsteadily, prepared to defend her new friends to the death. She shielded her eyes from the bright headlights getting closer.

The vehicle halted on the edge of the crater, blinding Diana with the floodlamps--- then abruptly, there came a familiar voice: “I think I’m gonna need a bigger car…”

Deep inside the citadel of Darkseid, in the glow of the Infinity Pit, Desaad was busy making some last minute preparations. The Lord of Apokolips himself watched from the edge of the Pit, as the erstwhile Mister Miracle was strapped into a machine like a torture rack by the eager and ungentle hands of Granny Goodness.

“You have hurt Granny badly, you ungrateful child.” She hissed, gouging her nails into his flesh. “And you were always my favorite, Scott. I had such high hopes for you.” She pressed her twisted and wrinkled face close to the prisoner’s. “Now I hope that Lord Darkseid deconstructs you atom by atom--- and that I get to watch!”

“Actually,” Desaad noted from the control panel where he was making his final calibrations. “The process by which I extract the Anti-Life code from his DNA is relatively painless.”

Granny looked at him, stunned.

“Of course,” Desaad grinned back at her. “I have made some modifications of my own…”

The two laughed, but Darkseid was losing patience. He was on the verge of the ultimate cosmic ascendance, and these two joked as if it were a trifling thing…! Did they not know this was the culmination of everything he had always worked towards…?

“Begin the procedure, Desaad.” Rumbled Darkseid, effectively cutting off all levity.

Desaad hastened to obey.

The look on the face of Highfather’s son was one of growing panic. He fastened his eyes on Big Barda, who stood at the entrance to the cave of the Infinity Pit.

“Please, Barda, don’t let them do this!” He pleaded with her.

She regarded him with a stony expression.

“Barda, I love you!”

This time it was Darkseid’s turn to laugh. “Love?” He mocked as Desaad threw a switch and waves of agony washed over Scott Free, causing his body to spasm uncontrollably. “What is love against Darkseid?”

But so amused was the Lord of Apokolips by the New God’s feeble attempt, that he had missed the subtle shift on the face of Big Barda…

“YES!” Desaad crowed, delighting in the agonies that Scott Free suffered at his hands. The son of the Highfather writhed in pain on the rack, even as the band strapped to his forehead transmited vital information directly into a similar one strapped to the forehead of Darkseid.

The Lord of Apokolips had reached transports he had yet unimagined. The secrets of Scott Free’s DNA slowly became revealed to him, joining the information already planted there from similar examinations of Superman, J’onn J’onzz and Appa Ali Apsa. And the beauty and complexity of the Anti-Life Equation blossomed like a corpse-flower in his mind…

At last… I have it!

Darkseid reveled in his new knowledge, allowing it to permeate his consciousness for a moment. It was his now. The Anti-Life Equation. He had but to speak it. And make the Power Infinite his and his alone.

None of the others seemed to exist anymore. The Lord of Apokolips seemed to perceive on an entirely different level now. The beings in the cave of the Infinity Pit now seemed to him nothing more than a random but comprehensible collection of chemicals and energies.

Except for one.

Metron had arrived.

The eternal seeker of knowledge calmly regarded the Lord of Apokolips from his perch on the Mobius Chair.

“Beware, Great Darkseid.” Metron spoke, and for Darkseid it was the only sound in the multiverse. “It is a duel-edged sword you wield now.”

“Begone, meddler.” Spake the Lord of Apokolips. “Lest I turn my will upon you.”

After what seemed like a deep sigh, Metron vanished, chair and all.

Then Darkseid, savoring the sounds in his head like he was tasting a fine wine, opened his mouth and spoke the words he had sought all his long life…

In the Batcave, Wonder Woman continued looking between Batman and Superman at the computer screen--- when she became aware of a subtle shift in reality. Something tugged at the edges of her mind, as if her subconscious was trying to assert itself over her will…

Her hand drifted down to her golden lasso and she felt better almost instantly.

“Hera…! Did you two feel that? It was like---.”

The words died in her throat as Superman and Batman turned to face her. Their mouths were slack and their eyes blank. Yet when they started advancing on her, there was menace in their every step.

It was obvious their will was not their own.

“All hail mighty Darkseid!” They intoned in unison.

Batman reached for her first, his gloved hand grasping like a claw. Diana sidestepped his clumsy grab, snatched his arm, and turned his momentum against him, hurling him into the wall. By then, Superman was upon her, wrapping his arms around her and pining hers to her body.

She struggled in vain, but Superman had her in a vise-like grip! He left her no choice. With a sudden lurch, she launched herself backward, smashing them against Batman’s supercomputer. Metal twisted and sparks flew--- and in his weakened state, Superman was stunned enough for Wonder Woman to slip free. She spun, her fist swinging, and connected with his jaw. The Man of Steel’s head snapped back, and he slid to the ground, dazed.

By then Batman had recovered enough to return to the fray. He flew at her, hurling batarangs ahead of him. Diana threw up her arms, and the projectiles were neatly deflected by her bracelets. But the batarangs were only a distraction. Batman himself was the real attack. He barreled into her and the two fell to the ground, rolling and struggling for the dominant position.
“Fight it, Batman!” She urged him as he thrashed atop her like a man possessed, his mania giving him strength. His cowl had come off in the tussle, revealing the features of a handsome man twisted into mindless servitude--- but she could see a struggle raging just behind those dark eyes.

But he was no match for the Amazing Amazon. She rolled again and straddled him, her legs on either side of his chest. She unclasped her golden lasso and started wrapping it around his wrists to subdue him--- and as she did she noticed that his inner turmoil almost instantly ceased! He looked up at her, as if he were astonished to find themselves at odds.

“Batman…?” She asked, tentatively.

“My god,” He muttered. “That was… disquieting. It was Darkseid. He was in my head, commanding me to destroy you…”

She looked at the lasso and realized what had happened. “The lasso freed your mind!” She gasped. “We have to get it to S---.”

She was yanked backward by her hair from behind, and flung across the room, the lasso falling from her fingers. She sailed through the air, slamming into the Batmobile with a cry of pain.

Superman stomped toward her, her death in his eyes.

“Why do you keep Kryptonite in your cave?” Superman asked, with only a hint of reproach in his voice.

The two of them gathered around Wonder Woman, sitting upright on a stretcher and working the kinks out of her back from the swift but brutal brawl.

“For times like these.” Responded the Dark Knight in a tone utterly devoid of regret. “It never hurts to be prepared.”

“And I thought I was the boy scout…” Superman smiled ruefully, and was rewarded with the ghost of a smile from Batman.

At that moment, a perimeter alarm was activated.

“That’ll be Green Lantern---.” Batman began, but his words were cut off by an explosion of rock and dust as a hole was blown in the side of the cave.

The three of them prepared to face the next threat, but were stunned to see the invaders were all too familiar: Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter and the Flash burst into the cave, growling I the same voice: “All hail, mighty Darkseid! And death to his enemies!”

“Here we go again!” Wonder Woman swung her lasso over her head as Superman and Batman sprang into action!

Alfred carefully picked his way through the wreckage strewn across the floor of the Batcave, an unloaded blunderbuss in his hands.

The heroes laid about in various stages of consciousness, all of them bruised and aching, but all of them, finally, freed of Darkseid’s control.

Batman, bent over, and hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, stared at his approaching butler.

“I thought you were out of ammo for the blunderbuss.”

“And I am, sir.” Alfred answered with a straight face. “But I am an excellent poker player.”

Groaning on the floor nearby, Green Lantern could not refrain from an exhausted chuckle.

Wonder Woman helped Flash to his feet, the Fastest Man Alive looking around in unabashed awe.

“Wow… I’ve been wanting to meet you guys for so long--- and the first time we get together, we beat each other to a pulp!”

“That was Darkseid’s doing, Flash.” Superman told him, but he addressed them all. “We’re just lucky that Wonder Woman was able to dispel his influence with her lasso.”

“Lucky?” Martian Manhunter contemplated somberly. “We may be many things, Kal-El, but I fear our luck has run out. The fact that Darkseid was able to seize control of us can mean only one thing: he has the Anti-Life Equation!”

Swearing under his breath, Batman said, “That means he has Mister Miracle.” The Dark Knight went to his computer, but could only stare at it in disgust: it had been destroyed in Wonder Woman’s battle with Superman. Then he remembered he had a better computer. A living computer…

He reached for the Mother Box, alarmed by its frantic pinging.

Mother Box, does Darkseid have the Anti-Life Equation?

Yes.

And what will he do with it?

He will assail the Source Wall and seek to penetrate the Source itself, making himself the Master of All Realities.

Batman looked up at his allies. “This is not good.” He explained what the Mother Box had just told him.

“Is that it, then? Apokolips wins…?” Flash asked angrily. “I can’t accept that! A dear friend of mine just gave his life to save this planet, and I will be damned if this is how it ends!”

His head hung low, the Martian Manhunter reported: “Darkseid is using the Anti-Life Equation to rain theta-waves down upon the earth. Even now, millions of souls are falling under his control and have only one thought: to live and die for Darkseid. The war is over…”

“No!” Superman stepped forward. “This is not the end! We never give up! Not until the last one of us falls.

“I’m with you, Supes, but what can we do?” Green Lantern asked. “Anything would be better than sitting here and waiting for the end…”

“To start, we don’t talk like that.” Wonder Woman moved to stand at Superman’s side. “In the darkest days of World War II, my mother fought alongside the fabled Justice Society of America against seemingly impossible evil and oppression. We can do the same. While we live there is always hope. I pledge my life to bringing down this mad, dark god! Who will fight at my side?”

And as one, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, the Flash and the Martian Manhunter added their voices to hers.

“Alright, then!” Flash wore a grim smile. He was ready to end this. “Where do we start?”

“We’re going to need some help.” Superman said. “Batman, can you ask that Mother Box to bring us to the other New Gods on Earth, specifically, to the Highfather Izaya…?”

After a moment of communion, Batman nodded once sharply and a boom tube burst into life in the middle of the cave.

Without hesitation, Superman flew into the transdimensional warp. Martian Manhunter followed, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman just behind him. Flash was a blur of color, and Batman stepped in last, hesitating only to look back at Alfred.

“Hold the fort, old friend. And reload that blunderbuss…!”

The boom tube closed behind Batman, and Alfred sniffed, shaking his head in the sudden silence.

Godspeed, he sent to them.

Things looked grim. Darkseid had the Anti-Life Equation. The people of Earth were falling under his sway, millions by the minute. Apokolips was on the verge of ultimate triumph.

And the only thing that stood against the end of the universe itself was the World’s Greatest Heroes!

Nurturing that small spark of hope within his beast, Alfred Pennyworth went about tidying the Batcave…

The war was over. The final battle was about to begin…