The sky crackled with tension as silence fell for just a moment after Ethan's earth-shattering punch that sent Darkseid flying across the ocean. Smoke rose from the crater behind him, a path of destruction still sizzling with heat and lightning where the tyrant's body had scraped across land and ocean.
Ethan stood tall at the edge of the long, scorched trench he had carved through the battlefield all the way to the ocean marking its end.
For a breathless second, no one moved.
Then, action returned like a snap of fate.
Flash stretched his neck side to side, "Alright, I'm on civilian duty," he said with a smile that masked his nerves. "Let the gods play. I'll make sure we have an audience to cheer for us when it's over."
He then became a blur of motion, whisking civilians away from danger zones and establishing a secure perimeter.
High above, Superman shot through the air like a missile, slamming into a cluster of Parademons, scattering them with ease. Shazam followed close behind, crackling with yellow lightning, punching through another swarm mid-flight. Their goal: keep the sky clear, maintain the perimeter, hold the aliens back.
Victor Stone who is now a Cyborg took a knee. Panels opened in his arm, revealing the faintly glowing Mother Box embedded in his chassis. Wires slid out and connected to his arm, data streaming through his body like electricity.
"C'mon… talk to me," Victor muttered, "Show me what you know. I need access to your portal pathways…"
Nearby, Batman crouched beside Green Lantern, who groaned as he sat up before rubbing his head.
"I think… I'm good," Lantern grumbled. "Still hate that guy, though."
"You rushed in without intel," Batman said flatly before scanning the field. "Don't do it again."
Meanwhile, Diana stepped up beside Ethan with her sword in hand. She glanced at him with a smile. "You're much stronger than I thought, Ethan."
He returned the smile and is about to reply—when two burning red beams shot out of nowhere, slamming into him and engulfing his figure in a thick cloud of smoke.
"Ethan!" Diana shouted and her eyes widened. She turned just in time to see Darksied barreling toward her at blinding speed. The tyrant's massive fist collided with her, sending her crashing into a nearby structure.
The smoke around Ethan cleared slowly. He stood in the middle of the blast zone—unharmed. Though his clothes bore a few torn patches, they shimmered with golden runes, pulsing with energy.
He looked down and brushed off some ash. "Well... that's a first. Someone actually scorched my magic-enhanced gear."
Darksied turned to face him with a flicker of something rare—surprise—passing across his usually impassive face. No one had ever withstood his Omega Beams head-on, let alone emerged unscathed.
"You withstand my Omega Beams," he rumbled, "I'm impressed, but..."
He didn't get to finish. Ethan vanished from his sight and reappeared instantly with a thunderous punch. Darksied, caught off guard, barely raised an arm in time to block. The shockwave of their impact cracked the air itself.
"I'm a bit pissed," Ethan muttered as lightning danced across his body. "You punched her. I'm her fan, you know."
Their fists met again, earth crumbling beneath their feet. This time, Ethan fought with no elemental force or exotic powers—just raw physical prowess. And in that domain, Darksied had the upper hand... For now.
Their battle shook the air with every blow. Ethan was fast, but Darksied was stronger. Each clash sent ripples across the battlefield, but slowly, surely, Ethan's strength began to rise. His reflexes sharpened, his movements adjusted. His adaptive evolution was in full swing.
Diana returned to the fray, leaping into the air with her sword flashing as she moved to flank Darksied. Her strikes were clean, divine, and unrelenting. He batted her away like a child, sending her skidding through rubble.
At first, Darkseid dominated the fight and his power is overwhelming. He swatted Diana who joined the fight again aside with ease, his eyes glowing with the promise of annihilation. But Ethan was the variable he couldn't predict.
Later when Darkseid unleashed his Omega Beams at Diana, Ethan stepped into their path, tanking the searing energy without a flinch. The beams, capable of erasing gods, fizzled against his evolving resistance.
"Keep trying, pal," Ethan taunted as he ducked a swing and countered with a punch that staggered Darkseid. "Those rays are losing their charm."
Diana seized the opening with her lasso snaring Darkseid's arm, yanking him off-balance. She glanced at Ethan with a spark of camaraderie in her eyes. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"
"Just adapting to the moment," Ethan replied as he drove a knee into Darkseid's side, the impact reverberating like thunder.
Darksied found himself forced to split his attention for the first time in centuries.
The Omega Beams flared again—but Ethan intercepted them all, taking the full brunt without flinching. His body absorbed the energy, and his power spiked further.
Every time Darksied tried to focus on Diana, Ethan stepped in.
Diana's heart pounded as she moved beside him again, "You don't have to protect me everytime."
"I'm not protecting you," Ethan replied with a wink, "I'm just showing off."
Darkseid snarled and lunged, grabbing Ethan by the throat—but Ethan's body flared with light, burning with storm energy. The Phoenix flame surged outward, blasting Darkseid back.
Diana struck low with she sword, forcing Darkseid to block. Ethan struck high with his punch cracking through the sound barrier. Blow after blow, Ethan pressed harder, evolving mid-fight. He wasn't just keeping up anymore—he was becoming a problem.
Every second, Ethan became faster, stronger, smarter. And with each passing moment… the tide began to turn. His strikes grew faster, heavier, matching the tyrant's godlike power. Darkseid's fighting style was no longer enough. Ethan's mind and body analyzed every move, predicting counters before they landed.
---------------
While Ethan and Diana clashed with the God of Apokolips in a storm of power and steel, elsewhere on the battlefield, the chaos was thinning.
Thanks to Superman and Shazam wreaking havoc in the skies, and Ethan's earlier earth-rending strike the number of Parademons had dropped drastically. The air was no longer saturated with wings and screams. Instead, isolated clusters remained—still dangerous, still relentless, but manageable.
Near a crumbled wall, Batman moved like a phantom with his cape swirling as he hurled batarangs that sliced Parademon wings. His face was a mask of grim focus. A Parademon lunged, and he sidestepped, driving a stun baton into its skull, his movements fluid yet deliberate. 'Numbers are down, but Darkseid's the real threat,' he thought. 'And Ethan… he's an unknown variable.'
Green Lantern hovered beside him with his glowing constructs smashing enemies left and right—a spiked mace here, a turret cannon there. They fought well together.
But Batman soon noticed it—Lantern kept glancing toward the titanic clash in the distance. His gaze lingered on Ethan and Darkseid trading blows, on Diana holding her own with blazing defiance. 'That guy's holding his own against Darkseid,' Hal thought with a mix of awe and frustration churning in his gut. 'I should be in there, not playing cleanup.'
Batman's gloved hand clamped onto Hal's arm, "Don't."
"Outta my way, Batman."
"You idiot," Batman growled. "If you go there, you'll just die."
Lantern's jaw clenched. His hand gripped Batman's and pushed it aside. "Then I die."
"What the hell are you trying to prove?" Batman asked before stepping in front of him again in a low but firm voice.
Lantern's expression cracked, anger flaring behind his eyes. "I'm not trying to prove anything, you phenomenal douchebag! Don't act like you know me—you don't!"
Batman's voice didn't rise. It never needed to. "We're somewhat alike."
Lantern scoffed bitterly. "We are nothing alike."
"We're fighting alongside an alien who can bench a battleship, an Amazonian warrior princess, a cyborg with a supercomputer brain, a guy who can punch the storming hell out of aliens, a human lightning bolt, and a speedster who makes physics his chew toy." Batman paused, "As far as I can tell, Hal… we're the only normal people left here."
Hal Jordan blinked. "I never told you my name."
Batman didn't miss a beat. "I saw it on your flight suit… when I stole your ring earlier."
Hal stared at him. "You're pretty South of normal, spooky. You know that, right?"
"You have no idea," Batman said flatly, then added, "This is bigger than you and me. Get out of your own way… and focus on what matters."
Hal exhaled slowly. His shoulders relaxed and then he raised his ring, and with a flash of green light, summoned a dozen new constructs—chainsaws, drones, swords, all tearing through the remaining Parademons with precise, brutal efficiency. "You've got a way with words, Bats," he muttered. "Annoying, spooky words."
High above the battle, Victor stood atop the skeletal remains of a skyscraper. His entire body pulsed with energy as the Mother Box synced with his systems. Digital code flowed through his eyes, data in ancient tongues surging into his mind.
Then, through the telepathic link Ethan had established earlier, Victor's voice echoed across the battlefield. 'Guys, I did it. I'm in. I've connected to their system. I've got their pathways… I know how to teleport them back to their home.'
Above him, the sky shimmered—dozens of swirling boom tubes igniting across the globe like new stars being born. The portals spun rapidly, glowing with dimensional energy. Then, one by one, they began to suck the remaining Parademons upward, drawing them screaming into the void.
All across the battlefield, the alien invaders were being yanked away—one after another, torn from the earth like dust on the wind.
Green Lantern floated beside Batman, watching the sky. "Okay… I'll admit. That was impressive."
Batman said nothing. But a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth beneath the cowl.
Far off, the battle between Ethan, Diana, and Darkseid still raged.
...
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