294 Invasion #294

Suddenly, a thunderous war horn, which seemed to reverberate all over the planet, sounded as the gigantic figure in the sky broke through the cloud, revealing a towering space.

Several more ships appeared, dotting the sky as they came to a stop, a swarm of winged humanoid creatures emerging as they rapidly descended toward the ground.

"Holy shit! It's an invasion!" Grayson exclaimed, wide eyes as he watched the horrifying spectacle, his voice barely audible through the screams of the civilians on the streets.

"We need to move now! Protect the civilains!" He said as he flew into the sky, hundreds of insectoid machines materializing around him, scurrying and crawling toward the ground to protect the people.

He didn't wait for a reply and instantly retrieved his axe, raising it above his head and releasing a concentrated beam of the blizzard that froze hundreds of the winged aliens solid, causing them to fall on the ground and shatter.

Grayson didn't stop as he continued charging toward the closest ship, his body glowing in a brilliant golden light. Gritting his teeth, he went straight through its armored hull, fire and explosions following behind him all the way to the other side.

Once he reached the other side, he quickly equipped his Starheart Ring, wrapped the spaceship in a thin green energy film, and sent it crashing toward the Gotham river to prevent damaging the city.

With a swing of his axe, Grayson froze the next wave of aliens closing in on the city, ignoring the few that slipped through the cracks as the sentry drones made quick work of them.

"Those things are Parademons, Darkseid Lackeys!" Grayson said as he got a better look at the winged aliens and turned to Kara, who was splitting a spaceship in half with her laser vision.

"Go to Metropolis. It's probably much worse there! I'll take off things here," He added as he quickly guided the two halves of the spaceships toward the Gotham river.

"Are you sure...?" Kara asked with a frown, seemingly hesitant as she watched Grayson jump into a swarm of Parademons, instantly annihilating them before taking down another spaceship.

From the corner of her vision, she noticed many of Gotham's police officers, heroes, vigilantes, and even more Sentry Drones emerge from every nook and cranny to join the fray.

The sight seemed to assure Kara as she firmed her resolve and flew away toward Metropolis.

Meanwhile, Grayson suddenly found himself on the receiving end of an ambush by a towering, bulky greened-skinned alien wearing nothing but a loin cloth and a strange metallic helmet after destroying four ships in a row and slaying more than a thousand Parademons.

"Earthling! How dare you destroy the great one's property?!" The green alien said as he teleported behind Grayson, joining his fists and bringing them down on the young man's back.

Busy directing yet another destroyed spaceship away from the city as he was, Grayson still reacted in time and dodged before turning to face the green-skinned alien.

"Better yet, how dare and your great one attack my city?!" Grayson said, brandishing his axe as he lunged at the green alien, sending out waves of freezing wind felt by even the civilians running for their lives on the street.

"You dare mock Titan and his great master, child?!" The green alien, Titan, bellowed, clearly angered by Grayson's words as he jumped back to dodge the attack.

"Shut the fuck up and die already!" Grayson replied, clearly uninterested in going back and forth with Titan as he activated his rings, materializing four gravity machines around the alien.

The energy constructs activated simultaneously, pinning Titan in the air as Grayson channeled energy into his axe and charged, decapitating the alien in one swift motion.

"Now for the rest of you..." Grayson remarked as he coldly turned to the remaining Parademons, causing them to flinch as he activated his Menacing Presence perk, turning into a monster in their compound shifty eyes.

...

Massachusetts, Salem

The Tower of Fate

Glorious Godfrey couldn't help the grin splitting his face from ear to ear as he finally set foot in the legendary tower. "You've done well, Arcane, but you've outlived your use," He said as he turned to the elderly man in gaudy red ropes beside him.

Anton Arcane's eyes shifted at those words as he prepared to strike down Godfrey, having expected the betrayal. However, a woman in a revealing purple suit suddenly appeared behind him, driving a dagger into his heart before he could react.

"There you are, dead sister," Godfrey greeted, maintaining his grin as he turned to the woman. "I trust you've dispatched Fate's chosen as planned?" He calmly asked, though his tone was rather demanding rather than polite.

"I have. That man whore is no more," The woman, Amazing grace replied with a nod. "But you've yet to explain to what end he had to die, nor what are we doing here..." She added with a frown.

"I know you're not acting under the great one's orders..." She concluded.

"I am not. I've had enough of this great one..." Glorious Godfrey replied with a scowl. "To think he'd force me to serve on this backward dump for so many years..." He added, gritting his teeth in frustration, causing his sister's eyes to widen.

"I will no longer put up with the humiliation, and neither will you have to..." Glorious Godfrey added after a slight pause as he calmed himself. "The power of a god of orders is waiting for us here. We will no longer have to serve anyone once we get our hands on it, dear sister," He concluded.

Godfrey was never the loyalist. In fact, many of Darkseid's agents only followed him out of fear. Most were just as ruthless and blackhearted as the god of Apokilips, each a tyrant and a warlord in their own right.

Only a few of Apokolips new gods were loyal to Darkseid, while the others would betray their masters at the drop of a hat if they could get away with it, which they couldn't.

After spending so much time on Earth and hating every moment of his stay, Godfrey was at the end of his patience. However, as he studied Earth to complete Dakseid's assignment, he realized the small planet held more powerful artifacts and sources of incredible power than any other place in the universe.

One such artifact was the Helmet of Fate, created by Nabu, a Lord of Order and one of the most powerful entities in the world. As soon as Godfrey learned about it, he started scheming to get his hands on it.

He learned everything there was to learn about the helmet, including the identity of its current wielder, some man-whore stripper, and how it would never leave the Tower of Fate unless necessary.

From there, he devised and executed countless schemes to turn the people against the Justice League to hasten Darkseid's plans, as he needed someone to distract the heroes while he claimed his prize.

And once the day came, he only needed to have his sister execute the current wielder of the helmet and find someone capable of breaking into the Tower of Fate.

Now, he only needed to claim his prize, slay Darkseid and become the new god of gods.

...

Metropolis

As Kara reached the city, her expression instantly sank upon noticing the hordes of Parademons running rampant all over the city. Though Superman, Super Boy, and many of the city's heroes were present, they couldn't help the civilians as they had to fight a handful of Darkseid's elite agents.

Kalibak, Granny Goodness, the Female Furies, Virman Vundabar, and other Apokilips elites kept the heroes at bay while the Parademons ran free, terrorizing the civilians and tearing up the city.

The city was already halfway toward utter ruin, and Kara could do nothing but grit her teeth as she joined the fray, lunging at Granny Goodness as she hoped to lighten the other heroes' burdens.

Kara knew she couldn't stop all the Parademons on her own and that everyone would die if Darkseid's minions managed to defeat the heroes, so she gritted her teeth, doing her best to ignore the civilians' screams as she joined the battle.

...

California

Coast City

Hal Jordan couldn't help but frown as he destroyed the last warship flying over his hometown, thanking his lucky stars that Darkseid didn't think too highly of him as only a dozen warships attacked the city.

His expression instantly worsened as he received several messages from other heroes asking for backup as their cities were far less fortunate than his own.

Hal hesitated as he contemplated his options before shaking his head and turning off the communication device. He had already let down his hometown once by failing to stop Mongul when he attacked it.

He would not repeat the same mistake again.