Chapter Fourteen

Apokolips Now

When Grace Good called this world Apokolips, Clark was convinced it was merely a tool to make the world sound more menacing to its enemies. After all, a world called Apokolips conjured images of a hell with fire and brimstone, crumbling cities and writhing bodies. His presumption ended the instant he, Kara, Diana and Bruce stepped through the portal.

The name was absolutely appropriate.

The grey, concrete like roof they emerged upon gave them a bird’s eye view of a world that could have what Dante Alighieri imagined when he first put pen to his Divine Comedy. Clark had never imagined hell as a real place even though he thought there were parts of Gotham City that sometimes felt like it. It was still was nothing like this world.

Even as he stood there, the oppressive nature of the place pressed down on his shoulders like a great weight. He breathed in its darkness and shuddered at the chill it created down its spine.

As Clark scanned the landscape as far as his enhanced vision would allow, he discovered a sprawling city that might very well cover the entire planet like a gauntlet of iron and rock. There were no signs of natural vegetation, waterways or even mountains. Not one trace of natural terrain existed. What this world might have been was buried beneath a vast, mechanised ecumenopolis.

The air was barely breathable as gaping wounds of molten fire, surrounded by high containment walls, spewed ash and smoke into the air across the landscape. Clark suspected those fissures of volcanic heat covered the entire planet’s surface. As a result of the fire pits, a deep amber sky, probably red during the night, glared down at them from above. There were no clouds that might bring life-giving rain, only dark puffs of smoke.

If there were stars above, Clark could not see them through the toxic atmosphere.

Despite the foreboding nature of the city, it was clear that a highly advanced society existed here. Even as he scanned the city, he could hear the evidence of heavy industrialization by the constant humming of machinery in the background. Transport vehicles flew across the skyline in the same fashion that cars sped up and down the highways while soldiers, borne by powered harnesses across their backs, patrolled the sky, armed with exotic weapons.

At the epicentre of all this however, was the towering fortress that stood above every other structure in the city. Like an ancient gothic castle, with a mixture of jagged and needle sharp spires that stabbed at the sky, it was surrounded by high walls, buttressed by ramparts and sealed with enormous iron gates. Overlooking the city from this monument was the carved statue of a being Clark knew without doubt to be Grace Good’s master.

This was Darkseid.

“Jesus Christ,” Clark whispered staring at the dark god he never wanted to meet. Clark didn’t scare easily but if this statue of Darkseid was intimidating enough without having to meet the actual entity face to face.

He was not alone in feelings about the city because when he glanced at Diana who seemed to be surveying the landscape, he could empathise with the expression of dread on her lovely features.

“This world makes Tartarus seems kinder in comparison,” Diana said tearing her gaze away from the metropolis, unable to reconcile herself with the idea of this place being home to anyone.

Kara and Bruce did not seem as affected Clark noticed. The teenager’s nose was wrinkled in disgust but its impact on her didn’t seem as marked. If anything, the expression of her face reminded Clark of those times when Martha would drag him along to visit a sick relative or worse yet, go shopping for shoes when he would rather be hanging out with his friends.

“Yeah it’s pretty awful,” Kara shrugged, not bothered by what she was seeing because at school in Kandor, she’d studied about alien races. Not every world was pretty by their standards and this one resembled a typical totalitarian society, like the Khunds or the Dominators. She stepped to the edge of the roof and squinted in the direction of the pits, even though she had the same enhanced vision as him. “It looks like they’ve got anti-grav tech and I think those pit things drawi power from the planet’s core.”

All three stared at her.

“Kara, you are familiar with these technologies?” The girl’s abilities now that she was drawn out of her shell continued to impress Diana and she was secretly proud at how far Kara had come in such a short time.

“Oh yeah,” she tossed Diana a smile and answered the Princess as if it was common knowledge. “I grew up on Kandor. We learned all about alien cultures in xeno-anthropology class. Although on Kandor, we used Zero Point energy, not this clunky stuff.”

Like Kara, Bruce was unfazed by this city because he’d been living with its primitive counterpart on Earth for years. Gotham was not all that different from this Apokolips. At night, the urban sprawl of that city was like a jungle and those who moved through its alleys and dark corners did so at their own peril. On every street corner and in every abandoned building, there were human monsters lurking in the shadows. As far as Bruce was concerned, the only difference between this world and Gotham was geography.

“We should get moving,” he said shortly, turning to the others after he’d conducted his own observations. While they were studying the city, he was examining the roof of the building they were standing on. Within seconds of their arrival, he had already determined where the exit was and how close it was to the next building if he needed to leave quickly.

“Agreed,” Clark answered. “Everything about this place tells me we need to find Dick and get the hell out of here. I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to be.”

Clark was uneasy, Bruce realised. It took quite a bit to shake the Kryptonian’s square-jawed resolve and anything that might unsettle Clark Kent was something they did not want to encounter. Besides, he agreed with Clark. The sooner they found Dick the better.

The idea of Dick being condemned to remain in this terrible world if they failed to rescue him was a failure Bruce couldn’t even begin to process. Upon seeing this place, he understood what forces shaped Valerie Beaudry from the shy, young woman they knew to the villainess that was willing to bring down a plane to escape. This world turned people into killers and Bruce would die before allowing the same thing to happen to Dick.

“Grace said this ‘Mother Box’ would take us where we needed to go,” Bruce explained as he studied the odd device resembling a futuristic version of a smart phone. “If that’s true then this building should be the orphanage she talked about. Clark can you scan what’s beneath us and make sure we’re in the right place?”

“On it,” Clark replied automatically glad for Bruce’s direction. Lowering his gaze to the grey, steel-plated floor, he focussed his X-ray vision and began searching.

What he saw horrified him as much as everything else in this world. This orphanage that was apparently home to alien children of all ages, from toddlers to teenagers resembled a dystopian version of a Dickensian workhouse. The upper levels of the building were segmented into rooms or rather cells, where the children were kept like prisoners. The further down he went, he saw the facilities that were designed to turn them into highly efficient killers.

Tutors in classrooms bombarded the children with gruesome images of death and deadly obstacle courses that were designed to put them through brutal tests of endurance. They fought holographic opponents in savage simulated environments or worse yet, they fought each other. He saw them pummelling each other in combat that left them bleeding and broken.

If this was what they put their children through, then what did they force Valerie to endure?

Clark had to ignore all this or else he’d never find Dick. Recalibrating his search, it didn’t take him long to find the boy once he did so. Fortunately, Dick was not undergoing one of these trials but was instead trapped in a cell. The boy was huddled on his bunk, hugging his knees to his chest.

He was so young, Clark thought and was immediately reminded of Ryan James, the young boy who had been like a brother to him. The boy’s death had devastated him and seeing Dick with his leg wrapped in mid-thigh because of an injury infuriated Clark. Had they made him go through one of those obstacle courses?

“Clark?” Bruce demanded at the sight of his jaw clenching.

“He’s here,” Clark said shortly. “Three levels down. He’s hurt but not badly I think. This isn’t an orphanage, it’s a training camp. There a hundreds of children here.”

“If this place turns children into monsters such as the one who almost killed Martha Kent and Lois, we cannot abandon them.” Yet even as she said those words, Clark saw the dismay that settled in once the reality of the situation sunk in.

“We may not be able to save them all Diana. We will be lucky to get Dick out as it is.” Bruce hoped she understood he wasn’t being selfish but a realist. This planet had technology beyond their comprehension and during their last encounter with its inhabitants on Earth; both he and Clark were nearly killed. He wasn’t about to underestimate them on their home soil.

“We must at least try,” Diana insisted but Bruce could hear the wavering in her voice as the truth settled over her.

“Diana,” Clark said gently, knowing they all shared the desire to save others but they were each of them out of their depth on this world and they knew it. “We’ll do what we can but right now, we need to get to Dick first.”

Leaving the grownups to their ‘discussion’, Kara scanned the sky, trying to do something useful in the meantime. Kal had already surveyed the building so she kept watch on the sky. These people must possess some kind of surveillance tech to keep watch on portals opening up on their world. She could not imagine them not taking safeguards with the existence of such technology. It did not take long for her to see that her instincts were right.

“I think they know we’re here!” Kara announced sharply to the others, silencing their debate in mid sentence.

Following her gaze, Clark saw a swarm of soldiers flying toward them, led by familiar faces on the transport leading the charge. The two women who attacked Martha and Lois were accompanied by a large, brutish man wearing futuristic armour and carrying what appeared to be a mace. Only Valerie was in the air flanking the transport, her wings flapping as she glided toward them.

“Clark, can you and Diana hold them off?” Bruce asked quickly, assessing the situation and laying down a hasty plan.

“Yeah,” Clark answered, guessing what he intended. “You and Kara go get Dick. We’ll keep them distracted for as long as we can.”

“But Kal!” Kara protested immediately, not liking the idea of turning tail and running when her cousin might need her help.

“No arguments Kara,” Clark said firmly. “They may not know you’re here and I want to keep that advantage to ourselves for as long as we can.”

“Kara, go now,” Diana insisted as the attack force closed in.

Kara frowned and nodded unhappily, turning around to see where Bruce was only to find that he was already crossing the floor towards the exit.

The Batman would have preferred to do this himself but he could not ignore that just like Clark and Diana, he was out of his depth. Utilising Kara’s abilities to retrieve Dick would be safer than the girl attempting to engage the forces approaching in combat. Despite her strength, she was still untested and this was too steep a learning curve for her first fight.

“Come on,” Bruce said to Kara when she reached him, “we don’t have a lot of time.”

Somehow he suspected that Clark and Diana were only facing the first wave.

After what Michael Kanto had said, there was every chance that Darkseid himself might make an appearance for opportunity of capturing Clark.

******

The transport holding the women Clark had come to know as Lashina and Mad Harriet sped towards them and was less than a hundred feet away from the roof’s edge. While he knew that he could overcome these two quickly, the man with them made Clark cautious. The man towered over Lashina with brutish features that looked savage and menacing. Something had come through the portal seven years ago, an energy beam more powerful than anything he had ever experienced had almost killed him. If this man had access to that power, then Clark had reason for threading carefully.

“Don’t attack until they show their hand Diana,” Clark warned. “We don’t know what these people are capable of but seven years ago, they knew how to take away my powers.”

“Great Gaea,” Diana whispered because there were few things that could harm the last son of Krypton and anything that could strip him of his great strength was nothing to take lightly. “I will follow your lead Kal but once we fight, we cannot give them quarter. If these people are as dangerous as you say, then it is us or them.”

While Clark would never consciously kill anyone, he also knew that circumstances might not give him that choice and he accepted Diana’s advice as something to consider.

“I understand,” Clark answered although he was not agreeing to nothing yet. “We just need to stall them long enough for Bruce and Kara to get Dick so we can get out of here.”

He concluded that statement in time for Valerie and his friends to finally reach them. The transport hovered a few feet away from the roof and a quick scan over his shoulder left him satisfied that Bruce and Kara were nowhere in sight. He noted that the distance from the transport and the edge of the roof was close enough for its occupants to make the jump across. Meanwhile, the soldiers in the air broke formation and quickly spread out to encircle the roof, their weapons poised to fire.

“Well, well, well,” Lashina exclaimed, glaring at them both. “We intended to carry out business on Earth and were quite surprised when our sensors indicated a boom tube had opened from Earth. We thought our Amazing Grace was coming home. Imagine our surprise to find you three instead.”

Three, Clark let out an inward sigh of relief. They didn’t know about Kara.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Clark said politely, using his typical mid-Western affability which seemed so alien compared to Lashina’s mocking tone. “We’re here to get the boy. This doesn’t have to get ugly but if you try to stop us, you’ll get hurt.”

The response came not from Lashina but the man at her side. His voice was gravelly and deep as he spoke and his eyes fixed on Clark with unmistakable challenge.

“Then hurt us, Kryptonian.”

The man launched himself off the platform with surprising speed and landed within a foot of Clark, swinging the mace before his feet even touched the ground. It cackled with energy as it struck Clark in the gut and the power behind it was enough to lift the Kryptonian off his feet and send him crashing into a nearby wall.

Stunned, especially when the pain from the blow was far more intense than anything he had felt in recent times, Clark needed a moment to regain his equilibrium. His attacker did not give him a moment to catch his breath and immediately rushed at him again. This time however, Clark recovered faster. His recent battle with Ixion had improved his ability to take substantial hits and knowing the capability of this opponent, allowed him to react in kind.

“Kal!” Diana cried out when she saw the attack on Clark but had no opportunity to intervene because Lashina swung into action. A crack of sound ripped through the air and something coiled around her throat. Lashina’s whip burned her skin but Diana who was more accustomed to pain than Kal reacted quickly.

Grabbing the whip, she yanked it back hard and would have dragged Lashina off the transport if the woman hadn’t wisely let go. The whip went slack in Diana’s grip as she launched herself into the air, flying to intercept the vehicle.

Lashina got to her feet to see the Amazon flying toward them and shouted to the troops. “ATTACK!”

The soldiers who were waiting for the order to fire, unleashed a deadly barrage of energy at Diana who found herself being struck on all sides. The sheer number of them made it impossible to deflect them all, though she did try. The bracelets, fashioned by a god, were more than capable of absorbing and deflecting the beams but there were still too many of them.

Taking advantage of the Amazons’ brief preoccupation, Lashina turned to Mad Harriet who was itching to get into the fight but no match for either opponent. Even the Swan was unable to intercept the Amazon without wandering into the parademons line of fire and using her voice was not an option either.

“Go after the other one!” Lashina ordered.

“The other one?” Harriet stared at her blankly. The Fury was already disappointed at not having a second chance at the Amazon but she was somewhat puzzled because the other one was the Kryptonian. Even Mad Harriet wasn’t insane enough to get between Kalibak and his prey.

“If these two are here then the Batman is here too! He’ll be trying to reach the boy!”

“Oooh,” Harriet grinned, liking the odds in that fight. Leaping off the transport, she landed on the roof and rolled onto her knees. “I get to play with the Bat!”

Despite the commotion, Diana heard Mad Harriet’s gleeful exclamation and realised that the insane creature was going after Bruce. If she did so, she would not only intercept him on the way to rescuing Dick but also discover Kara. Diana had no doubt that the entire planet would be mobilised to retrieve the young girl once that fact came to light.

Deflecting more bolts of energy out of her way, she tried to intervene but was hindered by the lash of another whip in her direction. Fortunately Diana saw it before it struck and she veered out of the way. It struck harmlessly at the space where she had been occupying a short time ago.

Rethinking her strategy, Diana noted that Valerie had yet to use her powers although she was flying to intercept Diana in the air. Realising that Valerie could not use her powers without compromising the soldiers in the battle, an idea formed in her head. Eyes narrowing with calculation, the Amazon accelerated in a burst of speed that created a sonic boom.

The sound distracted Valerie and Diana wasted no time, taking advantage of her momentary lapse. There were too many soldiers in the air and even though she had yet to see the progress of Kal’s confrontation with the man, their blows against each other exploded like artillery shells. Speeding forward, she slammed into Valerie and drove her into a nearby building with enough force to shatter masonry beneath the female Fury.

Valerie uttered a disorientated cry of pain but still did not use her power. Diana threw a fist at her, her knuckles making contact with Valerie’s chin. Had she desired it, Diana could have easily put her first through Valerie’s skull because for all her enhancements, Valerie was still human. However that was not what Diana had in mind. She had no use for Valerie unconscious.

Diana needed her angry.

********

Bruce didn’t need Kara’s super hearing to know that beyond the walls of the orphanage, a ferocious battle was raging, the outcome of which was still uncertain. As much as he thought of both Clark’s and Diana’s abilities, the forces arrayed against them were formidable. He and Kara had little time to waste in retrieving Dick Grayson.

The battle alerted every security system in the building and klaxons screamed their warning through the air. The ferocity of the fighting was causing the structure to shudder, sending tremors through the rock and causing lights to flicker as electronic systems were disrupted from assault of concussive force. Whatever stealth Bruce hoped to use in order to reach Dick’s cell was lost as more and more troops began to appear in the corridors leading to the level Dick was presently imprisoned. There were enough corners and shadows for him to hide with Kara but it wouldn’t be long before the corridor would be filled with soldiers.

Thinking quickly, Bruce knew he had to find another way and while he so wanted to be the one to rescue Dick, at this moment, his ego would have to take a backseat to the best course of action.

“Kara,” Bruce turned to her while they took refuge in what appeared to be alcove for a security station, “can you see him? Can you see Dick?” He asked in a whisper.

Puzzled by the reason for the request, she complied nonetheless. “I can try,” she answered back just as quietly.

She was still becoming accustomed to using her X-ray vision but Martha’s instruction during their time on Themiscyra had helped her refine it. Apparently the woman helped Kal in the same way when he first developed this power and Kara was grateful for the instruction. She was no longer seeing everyone as a walking collection of blood, fluids and bone. Even better, she wasn’t seeing them naked.

Concentrating, she stared at the floor and immediately saw the steel becoming translucent before disappearing entirely to show her the level beneath. Her stomach hollowed as she saw the other prisoners being held captive in this place and wished more than anything that she could help them. However she knew that they could only do so much and their objective was to get the boy who was taken because of her.

It did not take her long to find him because Bruce showed her his picture when they were at the mansion in Gotham. Seeing him in real life was even more disturbed. She understood why Bruce wanted him back so badly.

He was just a little boy.

“I see him!” She exclaimed triumphantly and then reminded herself to keep her voice lowered. “I see him,” she repeated herself, trying not to smile despite the situation.

“Alright,” Bruce replied, exhaling loudly to say the words he wished he did not have to but Dick’s life came first above all else. “Kara, you can move at super speed. I want you to leave me and go get him. I’ll be right behind you but you need to reach him first.”

Kara’s eyes widened and her face showed her anxiety at the request. At that moment, Bruce remembered how young she was too. While she may be able to juggle cars like tennis balls, at the heart of her was a fifteen year old girl who had just discovered her powers.

“But…but…” Kara started to protest. She wasn’t ready to be on her own and he was just a regular human. She had to keep him safe too. “But I don’t want to leave you!” She burst out.

“I can take care of myself,” he replied, astute enough to see the worry beneath her protests as well as the genuine concern for his safety. “You need to get to Dick first. If you do this right, you’ll be there and back before anyone knows what happened.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she continued to argue. “You’re Diana’s boyfriend. If I let you get hurt…”

It was very hard to maintain his grim façade with someone was calling him that but Bruce managed nonetheless. “Kara,” he said firmly, “I need you to do this. Please.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll do it,” Kara grumbled not at all liking the idea of leaving him. Kal said the Batman was the smartest person he knew but he was human and in her eyes, vulnerable. Still, she had to believe he knew what he was doing and she was too new at this to second guess him. Besides, he was right about one thing; she could get there faster.

Stepping away, she cast him a glance and made a parting request, “Try to catch up.”

With that, she sped away in a burst of acceleration that had his cape billowing behind him as she disappeared in a streak down the hallway.

*********

Emerging from the alcove after she vanished, Bruce continued down the corridor and found that the ceilings of these passages were largely exposed, crammed with conduits, wires and thick piping he assumed was for sewerage and water. The floor was constructed with steel deck plates that conducted sound quite efficiently, particularly when jackboots were marching against it. It allowed Bruce was able to hear the guards before he actually saw them.

When he heard the stomping approach by the gatekeepers of this so-called orphanage, Bruce took refuge within the maze of wires and conduits until they passed beneath him. Some of them were transporting children back to their cells and though these kids did not appear to be human, Bruce could still tell they were young. Despite his earlier pragmatism at being unable to save all the children here, seeing them made him less comfortable about the decision.

After the passing of another trio of guards, Bruce was about to lower himself back into the corridor when suddenly he heard a cackling laugh with an altogether unsettling familiarity.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” a female voice reeking with madness taunted him from further along the passageway. “I know you’re here Batboy! Show yourself so Mad Harriet can play!”

Bruce let out a sigh. Why did he always get the crazy ones?

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