45 Fireworks

I slowly stood up as I watched Darkseid right his finger that had dislocated when I detonated my barrier before glaring at me. I couldn't delay it anymore. If I couldn't turn the fight around, I will be vaporized by his stupid overpowered Omega Beam like the many victims before me.

Deep inside my body, I tugged at a familiar strength that had aided me in almost every battle until now, letting me come out of fights victoriously. I had used it to punch far above my weight and now I needed it to aid me in the same way. A strength that made me feel powerful and savage as the energy struggled to push my body to grow into a giant Oozaru.

Ikari state or the wrath state didn't just come with power and a primitive savageness, it gave one the feeling of being restrained inside one's own body. The feeling was dissociative like the power wasn't something I should be carelessly handling with the weak body I had.

This feeling was only amplified as I tried to bring this power forth once again under my current circumstances. My body was already filled with another power that seemingly eclipsed the power of an Oozaru.

The legendary form of a Super Saiyan was flowing through my body like a divine power. It gave me the feeling of the craziest pump while giving me the confidence to conquer the universe. I was on the top of the world, but even with this boundless strength, I knew I couldn't keep this up for long.

My stamina was draining rapidly, and now it would get worse. Maybe it was because I wasn't used to being a Super Saiyan or maybe my body was just too weak to handle the next step, but when I tried to add the Ikari on top of my Super Saiyan transformation, I felt like my body was falling apart.

The power was just too much. My body was on the verge of exploding and I couldn't help but release the energy. I was pouring water into a bucket that was already full. I had to make room or I would die just like that.

The aura around me rose and the air, dust, rocks, and chunks of metal were being pushed away from the overflowing energy leaking out of my body.

Perhaps this was how it felt like to be a true legendary Super Saiyan. Overflowing might, that was just too much for the body. I couldn't keep it any longer, so I took a page out of Broly's lesson and released the energy into a barrier made of pure energy, encasing me entirely.

Not a moment too late as the Omega Beam failed to break through the energy that was pushing outward, destroying the ground I was standing on. This wasn't enough, however. Every part of my body started to wantonly throw compressed ki blast into every direction.

I couldn't see or control the result of the attacks, as I was still struggling to just release the influx of energy. It wasn't until I forcefully suppressed my Ikari power with my Super Saiyan state that my body showed signs of stabilizing.

The pure energy that leaked out of me stopped, as I could handle most of the energy that I was carefully keeping awake. The strength was still clearly too much for me to handle, but I should be able to last long enough to end this battle. I hoped.

If the energy I had initially gotten from Ikari was akin to a fire hose, I was reducing it to water out of a paper straw. Not only was it still too much, but the straw was falling apart by just being in contact with my ki.

I looked at Darkseid, who had risen his arm to shield his eyes from the dust and smoke that was being pushed away from me. It was unclear what he saw, but he frowned as he took a step backward.

He wasn't quivering in fear, but I had made him take a step back in caution. It was as much as one could expect from someone that ran a tyranny through fear. It seemed like my smirk at his step back infuriated him, as his eyes fiercely glowed red.

"No wonder you came here. You are an arrogant lunatic!" He scowled at me, which made me realize that I was laughing.

He cut me off when he proved that even the loss of his eye didn't prevent his Omega Beam from coming out of it. He spammed his attack once again. However, he was underestimating me if he thought that something like this could still stop me.

The beam scattered upon my palm as I rushed through it, with one arm blocking the beam and another winding up while I twisted my body as I flew at him.

His life experience wasn't for nothing as he punched out at the same time, despite me being vastly faster than him. I decided to entertain him and hit it with my own fist.

It was only because of my enhanced sense of perception, but the world truly seemed to have stopped as our fists meet. The earth-shattering explosion would prove me wrong in the next moment.

The rise of my strength could clearly be seen in this exchange. If I had previously been barely equal to him, with being at a great disadvantage in terms of physical strength, I now completely dominated him. His resilience seemed to have been vastly reduced as my fist powered through the resistance that was Darkseid's hand.

The first bone of Darkseid that broke was in his hand, his knuckles. A spurt of blood burst out as the bone punctured through the dark rocky like skin. With his knuckles broken, his fingers gave way just as easily.

Fingers snapped as if my fist was the bowling bowl falling onto straight pointing fingers. Next was the bone in his forearm that instantly broke as the strength of my hit traveled on and through his entire arm. Like the one in his hand, the bones in his forearm punctured his skin and pointed out to the back until it was past his elbow.

Darkseid was lucky that his arm had slightly bent at this point and his upper arm was mostly left untroubled, but still, from now on he wouldn't be using this arm in our battle.

I wasn't done, however. I pulled my arm back and punched out the other as I used my entire body to create as much rotational power as I could. My other fist shot out like a cannon. Not as strong as the flying punch right now, but still a devastating attack if it landed.

Darkseid seemed to agree or was just trying to get away from the pain as he pulled back. Too bad that he was too late. With a small adjustment and ki propulsion, pushing me forward I was onto him again and now with added momentum.

My fist hit his lower jaw at full force and at that point, I could only think of one thing. His body was a lot squishier.

His jaw cracked and easily dislocated. He did his best to turn his face away as the hit lifted him off his feet. Blood splattered around, staining my fist and my face.

It was a satisfying blow, unlike the previous ones. I could sense his body shifting and breaking underneath both my attacks. Although satisfying, I couldn't indulge in the satisfaction.

The strength I gained from combining the Super Saiyan transformation and the Ikari state was overpowering. It didn't just overpower Darkseid with ease, but me as well. The strength was tearing heavily at my body as I mobilized the amount of ki I needed to beat Darkseid into submission.

Every movement I did during this mode was putting my body under too much pressure and stress. I had underestimated it previously. I seriously thought that my body had enough resilience to last me the fight with this kind of strength, but I was wrong.

Essentially, I had the super strength and speed without the resilience to go with it, or at least not to the same degree. I had delivered two punches with one punch per fist, but my fists were already hurting and trembling.

The strength was still surging and spreading throughout my body like a never-ending wave, even as I was trying to suppress my Ikari state to the bare minimum. The longer this battle extended, the unlikelier my victory.

This was it. I had to end this fight as soon as possible, or only death would await me.

Darkseid would only have to endure. He seemed to have understood this as well as I rushed towards him, only to find him in a defensive position. Or perhaps he was just fighting to survive at the moment.

No matter what, I was faster than him by a long shot, and after having fought him for a while now; I had already discerned his level of expertise. Whether he was being offensive or defensive, I could read him all the same. I was almost able to best him when I was weaker. Now that I was stronger and faster, there was no way for him to avoid punishment.

I slipped right through his guard and delivered a devastating roundhouse to his side. I could feel his bones underneath his skin and muscles shift as he was sent flying through several constructs and buildings like they weren't even there.

The surface area of this planet was getting worse with every second we fought each other, not that it could be much worse than what it had been before. I thought it might be best if the previous sight I had witnessed was completely erased.

The only reason this planet was still existing was because of the surface material it was mostly replaced with.

In fact, the longer the fight went on, the less likely it would be to be destroyed. I was trying to adapt to my new power and sent all the destructive power into my enemy and not let it disperse it to the environment. I was far from the level of Goku and how he achieved it even as a Saiyan God, but the planet would remain as long as I wanted it to.

Even after kicking him, I chased after him as I ignored the blaring pain coming from my shins. My body seemed to be made of glass since it couldn't adapt to the strength I gained. However, unlike a real legendary Super Saiyan, my body didn't adapt to this new strength that fast. I would have to wait until I healed...

That's it! I just have to heal my body and let my body do the heavy lifting. If I could heal my body after letting my Ikari wreak havoc inside my body, a nearly endless amount of Zenkais would be awaiting.

Healing wasn't something I was unfamiliar with but there was a difference between healing myself by using a technique with my hands and trying to to do the same with the ki inside my body. I tried to mobilize my power to carry a healing effect as it traveled through my body and, to my astonishment, it worked, to some degree. As my ki traveled towards my fists, I could feel the pain numb a tiny bit, but that was pretty much it. I couldn't heal them as I had hoped.

It wasn't like it was impossible to do, but my Super Saiyan and Ikari power made that endeavor more difficult. These states made my ki different from what it normally was. Its nature changed, which was why it was so difficult to mix these transformations.

Now I had these two powers running through my body, enhancing me to the best of their ability. That I had forced both to appear at the same time was probably an unwise move, evidently from my body breaking apart.

The crucial point of ki techniques like [Thunder Shock Surprise], [Fire Breath], or healing, was to impose that attribute on my ki. I would have a hard time using these techniques now and it was just simpler to use the natural destructive ki blast than try to achieve a unique effect with it.

With some more work, I could heal myself during the fight. Just by using a designated portion of my ki and my focus on healing myself as I fought. It was something I might be able to achieve given more time. Maybe in a couple of months or years, but now?

I didn't even dare to stop in order to figure things out, since I feared I might just collapse. So I didn't let my body relax for a moment or else I might not be able to continue this fight.

My body was tense and all muscles taut as I rushed through the air, arriving almost instantly in front of a tumbling Darkseid. Another punch to his chest made him spit out blood. I could feel his chest area cave in from my hit, but what I feared to occur happened.

As the bones in his chest broke, first my fingers broke, then something in my elbow or forearm snapped, which caused a sharp pain to arise throughout my arm, making me hiss out. My dislocated shoulder didn't help either.

I floated for a moment as I grabbed my shoulder and corrected it forcefully. Warm blood was running down my arm, dripping from the air as I tried to clench my arm in vain. Being in this state any longer didn't help my wound and just aggravate it.

With a deep breath, I tried to ignore the pain and my body telling me it was too much and just headed towards Darkseid. I heard him gasp and cough as he struggled his way out of the destroyed building that had collapsed onto him.

"Y-you... Darkseid won't ever be beaten!" He gurgled out as he tried to pick himself up before his eyes glowed fiercely.

I already recognized the telltales, and I already dodged behind him before it had even made a tenth of the way. The beam reversed and ironically hit himself squarely on the chest, sending him flying towards me.

The Omega Beam was crazily accurate because it could hone in on his opponent, but like Frieza's [Destructo Disks] they could be used against him if one was clever or fast enough.

He crashed into me and I directly used the position to wrap my still intact arm around his neck. He fiercely resisted it before he punched at my sides and tried to push my head away. Ironically, although I couldn't resist the power I released onto him, I was able to resist his own attempts to hurt me.

As soon as I got a good hold on to him, I wanted to snap his neck. I could have gone for the choke, but I wasn't sure if Darkseid needed air to breathe or if his blood-supplying vein could be squeezed shut as one could do to humans.

It was obvious that his neck, despite his sturdy skin and alien/godly nature, was still a weakness, but how and for how long I needed to choke him out to kill him was another question. Maybe he could go on for minutes, which wouldn't bode well for me, so I opted for the move that had to kill him.

I would break his neck, so I pushed my knee into his back, making him kneel and position him at the perfect reach distance. Although I was quite tall, he still had a few inches on me.

He tried to struggle up, but I drove my feet into his kneecap to keep him down while weathering the increasingly more desperate attacks with his miserable arm. He didn't seem to register the pain as he slammed his ruined elbow into my side. No doubt panicking as he realized he was about to die.

He tried to bite my arm, but I had secured my good arm underneath his neck tight. Omega beams were fired, but I used his own body as a shield, which dissuaded him from using it again.

I propped my broken arm on the other side of his head and held onto my shoulder while my good hand was clenching my other biceps, creating a rear-naked choke with Darkseid's head inside.

I tightened up and contracted my muscles. It would be a good choke if I just held it now, but that wasn't what I was going with, even when I felt Darkseid growing weaker.

What I needed was just a good twist. However, it seemed like fate was laughing at my face as I felt my power leave me quickly as I fell out of my Ikari state. Maybe it was because I was this close to finishing it that I relaxed, resulting in my power growing faint. The grip wasn't perfect, but this would have to do. With as much rotational power as I could muster, I twisted my body hard with Darkseid's head.

*Crack* *Crack*

Several dull cracks could be heard as I snapped Darkseid's neck before my grip loosened and I fell to the ground. Darkseid's head had twisted to the side before bouncing back. He was still kneeling for a moment before he fell face forward into the rocky barren soil.

I sighed in relief as I saw this. Darkseid's neck muscles were firm and with his arm, as support, the resistance was quite strong.

That was truly a last-minute kill, I thought to myself as I looked into the dark and gloomy sky of this planet. I dropped out of my Super Saiyan transformation before the pain kicked in from all over the body. As I relaxed, I only now realized the pain and damage my body had accumulated.

I needed to get out of here quickly before I was being killed off by a parademon.

"Urgh-" My breath froze and my hair at the back of my neck stood up as I glanced at the lying form of Darkseid before he stirred.

"D-did... thin bea- me? ...am a god amon- gods!" He slurred his words but the fury in his words was clear to hear. He tried to stand up, only to trip and fall into the dirt again.

My teeth and fist clenched as I realized I hadn't used enough force to kill him and he seemed out of it, but he was a god. Who knew when he would get it together? I had to kill him!

I internally screamed at my body to move. It protested heavily. I hesitated to call upon my Super Saiyan strength since I wasn't sure if I could endure the pressure before deciding it was necessary.

It was ironic that after I decided to use it, my Super Saiyan power refused to budge and help me transform. Fortunately, the power of Oozaru didn't disappoint and I could feel it bubble up and spread through my body before something happened that made me halt.

I coughed up blood as the violent ki flowed through my body. My injuries were worsening, but I needed little energy. I directed the power into my finger as I pointed it at the still Darkseid.

The ki beam shot out and aimed for his head before it was blocked by an Omega Beam. Darkseid turned round with one hand around his neck. Several cracks sounded out as he fumbled with his own neck.

"You." That wasn't what I wanted to hear. The steadiness of his voice returned to him, "You will know pain!"

"Fuck this and fuck you!" I said before my body shot into the sky. Darkseid's eyes widened in surprise at my sudden escape before he fired his Omega Beam at me that I blocked with an endless supply of rubble that was created during our battle.

I flew higher into the sky as I used my telekinesis to lift myself up. My abilities to use my telekinesis weren't impaired because of the battle, maybe a bit of loss due to the lack of focus and mental drain, but it was still a power that would equal my base strength to some degree.

With this as a last resort, I ascended to the sky while Darkseid followed closely. He wasn't the fastest flier and, coupled with his injuries, his speed was already impressive to have remained this way.

He should have stayed on the ground because I might have missed him and he could have survived in the cold, empty space. The Saiyan's Oozaru power heeded my call. With my situation at hand, I did my best to steer the power into my hand. I didn't let it try to empower my entire body, but wanted it only for one last attack.

However, something was nagging at me. If he used his Omega Beam, even a full-frontal attack then... Just my Ikari power might not be enough to kill him. As injured as he might be now.

I had only beaten him to the degree he was now by being almost twice as strong as he was. Now added with my Ikari state, an attack would barely reach the power of half of his injured state. If he was directly hit, the chances of killing him were there, but why would he let it hit him?

Maybe it was the desperation that came with the realization that this might not be enough after all, but a familiar strength that had refused me just a moment ago offered itself to me as if it was natural. With my body empowered and the ki a lot tamer than before, I made my move.

The idea of using a Kamehameha to end this was tempting, but it wasn't just Darkseid. I wanted the entire planet to be gone, to be vaporized. I had little against Darkseid personally, but knowing him, it would be best to have him and anything associated with him completely gone and I needed to do it quickly without him being able to dodge. A beam would be a poor choice to finish it.

I raised my arm and poured as much into it as I could. The heat that was generated by this technique could be instantly felt. It only grew stronger after another second. My attack was probably not at efficient as the original technique. In fact, it couldn't even be called an imitation by how badly it was made. I mostly just pumped all my energy into it before I swung my arm down.

The technique only took a second to be executed without giving Darkseid enough time to interrupt me. It was a crude attack that looked more complicated than it actually was, and I had only tested it on a much smaller scale, but it would do.

He was floating near to me, having closed the gap to only a few dozen meters, and because of it, I was able to see the realization in his eyes before he turned his hateful sight to me.

"This isn't the end!" I guessed he said that. I couldn't hear him over the roaring sun that passed me and directly impacted Darkseid.

[Supernova]

The attack had covered him entirely. I wanted to fly to the side to watch his death, wanting to make sure that it would kill him and that he didn't just miraculously teleport away, but I hadn't the leisure to do that.

I reached into my inner pocket... I looked down and saw my bare torso with just an amulet around my neck, realizing that my combat suit had been long destroyed during our battle with only my pants remaining.

This meant that everything in my pockets was destroyed or lost as well. The most important thing besides my snack was the teleportation device of Granny Goodness. As soon as I recognized my dire situation, I turned to the sky again and flew as fast as I could into space.

I didn't dare to turn around as I heard the Supernova crash into Apokolips. It would bury itself for a moment before exploding grandly. Knowing the explosion radius was encapsulating the planet in its entirety didn't fill me with great confidence about my escape.

After exiting the atmosphere and reaching deeper into the space, I noticed the change. The first thing I noticed was the light that shone brightly from behind, then the heat came, after which the shock wave carried me deeper into space.

Several comets in the way were shattered as I flew through them without being able to stop myself. My momentum was already too great. Unfortunately, my Ikari and Super Saiyan states were already dormant after I had spent a lot of energy on the attack just now.

The impacts now wouldn't kill me. I was only worried about the deep, empty space and how I wouldn't be able to survive it.

It would truly be pathetic to die after winning a fight against Darkseid, the ruler of Apokolips. This would be a glorious event for the entire universe, and I couldn't let this be the moment or the way I would die. Not like this.

I thought as my consciousness slipped away from me. My eyelids grew heavier as only black filled my view and the pain in my body was growing faint.

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A/N: Like I mentioned last week, there will be no chapter next week and the week after that, 06.06 and 13.06.

FYI: The energies don't have a will and are just part of Shallot's subconscious. 'It' initially didn't budge because he believed he would die using it, and he had other options that weren't as dangerous. A mental block made him unable to transform, so to say, which is also why he could use Ikari since he is more familiar with it even if it wasn't the best decision.