121 Unkindness

In the ominous, suffocating silence of the Creator's sanctum, Darkseid found himself facing a nightmarish apparition that slithered from the rift. He could sense the malevolent taint of the Great Darkness exuding from her form. Was this the Left Hand the Empty Hand had mentioned?

Vultures were circling overhead as if to signify that his death was near. They were just waiting, silently for him to fall, he could feel it. Darkseid gritted his teeth in frustration.

The dire situation has further stacked the odds against the dark god. Not only was he outmatched in power, but now, the Empty Hand had summoned reinforcement that he might not be able to contend with. Even with Shallot at his side, the outcome seemed uncertain. Yet, retreat was not an option. The point of no return had already been crossed the moment they entered the 7th Dimension. To turn away now would mean eternal subjugation, a fate Darkseid couldn't accept.

If he left, he would concede and be doomed to never be free or rise again in the future. It was either do or die. His teeth almost shattered with the amount of force he clenched them shut as he stared at the newcomer. He recognized her. 

The daughter of Trigon. A cambion, half-breed human and demon. However, her appearance had changed drastically. The figure that emerged, once known as Raven, had transformed into a grotesque entity.

Cloaked in darkness and exuding an unsettling aura, her entire being seemed a manifestation of impending doom. Red eyes glimmered hungrily within the abyss of her form, a crimson glow seeping through her shroud of shadows. The only thing that gave her a sense of normalcy was the tattered clothes she wore.

"Where is it?" Her distorted voice, dripping with malevolence, echoed through the empty canyon. Darkseid recognized the shift in her as soon as she stepped on the dry soil, an eerie change that transcended her physical form. She seemed to consume light itself, casting abyssal darkness even in this dimension of resplendent power and light. Darkseid was no stranger to the creatures of the abyss, but even he recognized the other as a terrifying evil monster that needed to be exterminated.

She raised her claw and pointed her sharp claws in his direction as if she were trying to grasp something. "It's near." There was an impatience in her distorted voice, while the Empty Hand chuckled. 

"I will leave it to you, Unkindness." The Empty Hand retreated, hiding away, while Darkseid could feel a pull of his divinity by the cambion.

"You dare!" He hollered as he instinctively lunged towards her with his unmatched strength, his strike—capable of rending the fabric of existence—was effortlessly evaded. Raven or Unkindness, the entity she had become, flowed like a shadow, avoiding his attacks. Her movements were sinuous, unpredictable, an unsettling dance of evasive grace.

Leaving behind an eerie trail of ink-like remnants, she moved with a disconcerting tilt of her head, creating an unsettling aura. Within those swirling remnants, Darkseid sensed dormant horrors and unearthly forces, a concoction of nightmarish concepts. They looked like worms trying to burrow into this dimension.

It wasn't the fact that it was corrupt and evil, but that there were numerous concepts and auras integrated into her energy, causing him to avoid it. They were muddled energy coming from millions of different sources. Despite her efforts to contain it, Darkseid could sense that she wasn't completely in control. 

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it...?" Unkindness' mutterings, interspersed with chilling sounds of agony and devastation, heightened the malevolence that clung to her. Her energy was a disconcerting amalgamation of countless malevolent sources, a conjoint chaos ready to spill forth beyond her control. 

Sounds of screams, flesh being consumed, bones being broken, rang out as if to foretell his future. "Freaking lunatic," Darkseid grunted as he felt the impure energy radiate from this cambion as she lunged at him like a specter of darkness that slithered and contorted with unnerving fluidity. Her elongated, clawed appendages became instruments of devastation, slicing through the air like ethereal scythes seeking to tear the fabric of reality asunder.

He raised his forearm, blocking the slice with his bracer, causing countless sparks to scatter. It obviously wouldn't end there. With an eerie grace, she lunged at Darkseid, her razor-sharp claws aiming to pierce his impenetrable form through his stomach. Darkseid's reactionary prowess, a product of immense power and acute combat prowess, cultivated through millions of years, saw him respond with a swift parry, a retaliatory chop to Raven's neck that would have beheaded her if it had hit. 

She was forced back, her hissing form recoiling momentarily. Despite the near death, it seemed like she didn't care. Undeterred by the setback, she unleashed another sinister offensive. Her darkness, a malevolent shroud that extended beyond her physical form, writhed across the ground, morphing into countless shadowy spikes that emerged from the very fabric of the creator's sanctum.

Darkseid, recognizing the imminent threat, wasted no time in a decisive response. With a resounding stomp, he exerted his formidable strength upon the ground. The sheer force of his impact reverberated through the sanctum, annihilating the looming shadows as the ground quaked beneath him. The spikes disintegrated into nothingness under the sheer might of his mighty stomp, dispersing into fading wisps of malevolent energy.

The clash between these dark forces continued each maneuver an orchestrated dance of power and strategy. Darkseid's movements were deliberate and calculated, a testament to his experience and indomitable will. Raven, an enigmatic entity of darkness, moved with an otherworldly fluidity, her motions unpredictably elusive, evading Darkseid's onslaught with an unsettling grace.

The atmosphere crackled with raw energy, an ominous anticipation of the inevitable, a prelude to the impending release of titanic power. Each strike, each evasive maneuver, was a testament to the cataclysmic potential brewing within the sanctum's confines.

The battle unfolded as a surreal, otherworldly spectacle, a clash of primeval forces that resonated through the very core of existence. With each movement, the sanctum bore witness to the collision of supernatural might, an enthralling display of power and prowess as slowly the sanctum's restraints on them loosened, and with it, Unkindness turned more and more feral.

As the confrontation intensified, Darkseid recognized the impending descent of Raven into an uncontrollable force of destruction. Yet, his focus shifted to the Empty Hand, who, though diminished, remained a formidable opponent and was currently hiding.

Darkseid was well aware that the other lurked on the periphery, observing the chaotic battle with calculated patience, waiting for the opportune moment to strike not unlike what Darkseid had done when he was fighting Shallot.

Darkseid, relentless in his determination, pressed the offensive, every strike aimed at subduing the malevolent force called Unkindness. His movements were calculated, yet he couldn't get an advantage to end the fight quickly. With another enemy to worry about in the shadows, it didn't look good for him and he hated to be played like this, so he finally used it to get an advantage even though it would leave him open momentarily.

Once more, Unkindness slashed at him, forcing him to dodge. The ground where he stood split open with four claw marks and ink-like energy corroding the ground, sizzling like it was a highly corrosive substance.

With a growl of frustration and fury, Darkseid summoned the full force of his Omega Energy, enhanced by Dark Energy and Darkness. His eyes blazed with scorching power as he prepared to unleash the devastating might of his Omega Beam upon Unkindness, a searing torrent of annihilating force that threatened to engulf everything in its path.

The atmosphere crackled with intensity as Darkseid's energy surged, coalescing into a blinding red glow, a harbinger of impending destruction. The air itself seemed to vibrate with the overwhelming power building up, a cataclysmic force on the verge of being unleashed.

But before the blinding light could flood the chamber, the battle paused, caught in suspended animation. Every entity within the sanctum froze in an eerie tableau of impending chaos, a calm moment before the storm's culmination.

Darkseid stood poised, his body coiled like a spring, ready to release the devastating energy. Unkindness, her darkness swirling around her like a malevolent storm, was frozen in a stance of tense anticipation. The Empty Hand, a calculating specter in the corner, was momentarily motionless, waiting for the resolution.

The tension held an anticipatory breath before the imminent eruption of destruction. It was in this suspended instant that the very fabric of reality seemed to quiver, as if even the cosmos held its breath, waiting for the cataclysmic impact of Darkseid's unleashed power.

A blinding red light of his Omega Beam dyed the surroundings red as it was released. It tore through the air and slammed into her without suspense.

His view was covered with the hit of his beams, so he realized it too late. "There it is!" Her wretched voice sounded out from within the beam. Her dark claw pierced through the veil of destruction and plunged into his right eye without hindrance.

Darkseid could instantly feel the sharp claws cut into his skull, severing his nerves as she plucked his eye right out of his skull. An agonizing scream escaped him as it wasn't just his eyes that she ripped out of him. His hand clutched over his profusely bleeding eye socket as he staggered back from the attack. He could feel a part of his essence being stolen from him, causing him to glare at Unkindness with pure hatred.

He had never hated someone more than this, but the attack had left him momentarily vulnerable, leaving him no choice but to watch as she crushed his eye in her claw before a whirl of darkness enveloped it. "You bitch!" He shouted as he felt part of his Omega domain being absorbed by this half-demon.

However, even this didn't seem to satisfy her as her eyes snapped toward him with a hunger that wasn't even satiated to a little extent. No, she got even more feral. Her eyes were glowing a deep red as she looked at the tyrannical god as mere prey. 

"Hahaha. Wow, I didn't expect that. Greatly done, Unkindness!" The Empty Hand suddenly manifested behind Unkindness, laughing as he stared at the dark god with disdain in his eyes. "Now, kill him and then kill that Saiyan-" He spoke as he patted her on the back, which seemed to garner Unkindness' hostility as she turned back and swiftly rammed her claws through his stomach before slicing it to the side, cutting him open and letting his organs spill out.

The Empty Hand's eyes widened as he collapsed to the ground. "W-what, why?!" He uttered through gritted teeth. "We are both on the same side! You... didn't you become the Left Hand?!" His words dripping with confusion and hatred.

"It's mine!" She answered ferociously with her emotions fluctuating greatly for some reason, leaving the two dark entities confused about the meaning of it, though Darkseid wasn't going to ponder over it or the fact that she didn't seem to be the Left Hand as she pounced toward him with ferocious speed. He was only able to shoot another beam out of his remaining eyes, instinctively recognizing that she would accept it.

The moment it connected, she was dragged into his realm. An emotionally unstable creature like her would hardly be able to contend against the pull of the Omega Sanction. Although she had stolen a part of the Omega Effect, it was hardly enough to break free or even do anything once trapped inside his domain.

All that awaited her there was her death. At least, that was what he was hoping. The moment, she arrived in his realm, he could feel a strong absorption. Despite his omnipotence inside his realm, the pull was too powerful, forcing him to focus on it and employ his Dark Energy to contain and wear her down.

While this was happening, the Empty Hand was recovering from the blow. His open stomach sutured shut as he used the time in which Darkseid was occupied to recover himself. After he did, he started sprinting toward the injured god. There was no need to talk anymore, he just needed to get rid of the other and then fulfill the Great Darkness' wishes.

Darkseid turned his attention back to the Empty Hand. The Empty Hand's form had shrunk a bit to a few meters. Despite his small form, his fist was heavy, but not irresistible. With the power of the Dark Energy, the fact that the Great Darkness' influence in this place was minimal, and due to their heavy injuries, their powers were almost equal. 

Although they were greatly weakened, their fists once slammed together, created a boom that would have been powerful enough to give birth to a universe.

...

Darkness. Pure Darkness. She was surrounded by it. It envelops and permeates her entire being. To the very bone, darkness could be found. It went so deep that she didn't know who she was because all there was was Darkness. The only thing that she remembered was pain, fear, resolution, and hatred during a fight that seemed to have imprinted itself on her.

Despite having no clear memory of what it was, she still knew what it was like. A clash that brought her to the brink of destruction and made her want to cause suffering upon her enemy, but since she had nowhere to vent, it remained bottled up. Now the only things remaining inside her were hatred and evil, so she took upon the name Unkindness. 

This was the name she had chosen for herself because despite the Darkness burrowing into her, she knew she wasn't Darkness, but she also didn't know who she was. So, she deduced that Unkindness was all that was left of her, of her original self. 

At least, that was what she had thought until she sensed something. Something that she knew belonged to her, but she couldn't grasp what it was. With nowhere to go and with no purpose, she pursued this feeling, trying to find whatever it was that attracted her attention. 

It didn't take long for her to arrive at a rift that was closing quickly. She instinctively used her powers to arrive at this place of blinding light. The Darkness inside her boiled with hatred and a desire for destruction from the sight. The desire tried to command her to spread her powers and devour the place, but her focus remained on one of the two beings she came across.

Both of them felt familiar and she directly knew that they too shared the Darkness, but she couldn't care about them with her goal this close by. Her heart which had stopped beating a long time ago, started again. A powerful beat that seemed to breathe new life into her body.

The Darkness inside her tried to suppress the emotion, but since the origin didn't lie inside her, it continued to cause ripples inside her with every step she got closer. She pursued this feeling and found access inside the energy of one of the beings. After being brought into this realm, the Darkness wanted her to return to the light to destroy it, but she ignored it and just compressed the energy around her to be unaffected by the energy's influence.

She treaded through this world of suffering. Torture, humiliation, pain, hatred, and despair made up this place, but through the protection of Darkness and her affinity to these things, they only washed over her form without being able to affect her. At one point, it tried to isolate her by removing the illusions and reality-altering visions.

She just continued on, determined to find what was calling her. With every step she took her heart started beating harder, cleansing her body of this Darkness and clearing her mind bit by bit. For some reason, the evil inside her started to help her force the Darkness into her claw that was covered in holes.

When she arrived in front of a black door with red smoke blowing out from beneath, she was finally able to contain this Darkness inside her claw with the evil inside her sealing it off. The Darkness was still seething beneath the surface, just waiting to break out, but it was unable to.

For some reason, she remembered that she had tried to contain this Darkness before but failed miserably. Back then the Darkness was infinite, but here it was just the amount she had absorbed from the Upside Down Man. It was unclear whether it was because of this Omega energy she was surrounded by or the resplendent light that was just outside and prevented Darkness from reaching her.

In here it was just her, the Darkness, Unkindness, and something else. Her eyes moved to the door handle. A head tilt later, the door was violently flung open. A red fog gushed out of it as if the vent of an almost bustling pipe had finally been opened. A corrosive and destructive fog washed over her, but she didn't care for this.

Without hesitation, she stepped inside. The wide-open door slammed shut again. She only glanced at it before continuing through the thick fog that was obscuring her view. The only thing she could see in the distance were countless luminous chains extending from the sky to a single point. It almost appeared as if the chains were luminous spears, piercing something.

 She wasn't sure if this was the destination she sought, but the beating of her heart and the rekindled emotions inside her were guiding her toward it. She didn't resist this and just continued on her path until a vague figure could be seen kneeling on the ground with his arms spread to his side.

When she was close enough, she could finally make out what the figure looked like. A naked man that was pierced with countless chains with each chain having different attributes. Some were burning his flesh, while others were freezing it or corroding his skin. His face was half melted, but even if it wasn't, it would be hard for anyone to recognize this person.

He didn't have any skin, exposing his flesh and nerves to the outside. Countless insects were crawling across his body, nibbling on his flesh or burrowing deeper into his exposed organs. Birds were perched on his arms and flying around him, eating away at the insects that were burrowing in his body or directly eating his flesh. One bird was plucking out his tongue through the hole in his cheek. The worst thing was that he continued to heal.

Although it wasn't a sight that was unfamiliar to her, she couldn't help but feel her heart drop. Tears ran down her skin at the condition of this unfamiliar man. She couldn't recognize the other, but she still felt a deep-seated anguish for the suffering he had gone through. The anguish turned into pure hatred unprecedented to what she had felt before.

Her powers moved without her urging, enveloping the man, separating the chains from his body, and cleansing him from the insects and birds. The realm around them seemed to boil in anger for freeing the man of his suffering. The man didn't collapse once the chains were removed.

He remained in that position as his body healed him from his wounds. The eyelids that had been eaten were regrown, revealing that he had closed his eyes. While he was healing, Unkindness could feel something tingling inside her mind, as if she was trying to recall something. 

The moment his face was restored, the tingling turned dizzying almost painful, but she continued to stare at the face. She liked the new emotions that were caused by this person and unknowingly arrived in front of him. Her hand raised to his face, but ultimately stopped before she could touch him. 

She was unsure whether to do what her body seemed to be compelled to do, there was a lingering aspect of her mind, trying to turn back and return to the Darkness. The call was coming from far away, outside of this realm. If it was just that she wouldn't have stopped. However, remembering what condition he was in previously, made her afraid that she would break him or that the emotions would disappear once she reached for him.

The man seemed to be unable to sense her and with his furrowed brows and grimace looked strained. It was like her existence was outside of his perception and he was occupied with fighting something within himself. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to not do anything that might destroy this new sensation.

Her hand was about to retract only to realize she couldn't move it. She looked at the man's iron grip around her wrist before she looked at his closed eyes again. His eyelids were trembling for a moment as if trying to break out of a nightmare. Her heart started beating heavily, almost causing her emotions to go awry.

It was then that he opened his eyes and she just froze at the sight. His black eyes conveyed a depth that she couldn't see through. There was also a hint of skepticism as he surveyed the surroundings. 

After looking around for a moment, he turned to her, locking eyes with her. At that moment, all the memories that she had thought she had forgotten, rushed back to her. All bottled emotions erupted from within her, causing her hand to grasp his shirt.

Raven just looked at Nathan's face, being glad that she was alive, that he was alive. "Raven." His strained features, softened as he watched her. He raised his hand and wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks before leaning down to kiss her. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.

They stayed like this for a moment before they separated again. Nathan glanced around as if he was scrutinizing the environment for something. "Seems like I am back." His voice sounded rough like he hadn't spoken for years.

"Are you alright?" Raven asked, remembering his condition just a moment ago. He squeezed her lightly before revealing a small smile. 

"Now, I am." He said before looking up into the endless foggy sky. "Let's get out of here."

...

It's done. It was just like Clark had told me. The speed at which time flowed inside the Omega Sanction was accelerated to ridiculous degrees, giving me the idea of using it since my time was limited and it was unknown, who I needed to face in this battle. It was the last ingredient I needed. Now I could unleash a power that would dwarf anything seen before.

The reality parted ways as we pierced through the constraint of the Omega Sanction and returned to the dimension we had disappeared from. As we saw the light from the dimension, I spoke loudly with a smile on my face. "For thousands of years I lay dormant, who has disturbed my-" My voice stopped as I looked at the scene before me.

Darkseid and the Empty Hand sprawling over the ground with their heads separated from their bodies. The life force inside of their body had already vanished, indicating that they were already dead. 

I glanced over the four that stood above their bodies. In splendid armor that was akin to Nth metal, but even more impressive, stood Felicia, Kara, Maxima, and Diana. Their hands or weapons dripping with blood indicated that they had been the ones to slay the two.

"Oh, hey?" I greeted them in a confused tone, making them look over to me before a smile spread over their faces. "Did you kill these two? And why did you two get changed?" Diana and Maxima didn't look like this when we moved out, but there were even more questions. I glanced over to Kara and Felicia, who seemed more than fine. They were just teeming with life force. "Where the hell were you two and where were you, Raven?"

Kara laughed slightly and raised her arm to show off her biceps. "A lot had happened and we were quite busy, but don't worry I made sure Felica was okay." Felicia snorted at that, which left me stunned before raising a hand, and shooting a beam at the two corpses, pulverizing them.

"I'm not sure what the fuck happened, but I'm glad you are okay," I said with a smile, the weight on my heart lifted and I could feel my body loosen considerably. I was about to greet them properly, but in a certain direction, I sensed formidable auras breaking into this dimension. "Seems like we don't have much time. Let's catch up later." They nodded solemnly and rose to the air with me before we shot off into the distance.