305 The Kid from Gotham #305

"Farewell, Kryptonian..." Darkseid said as he drew his gigantic fist and sent it flying toward the planet's exposed core, intent on crushing it alongside the man of steel.

The God of Tyrany's fist broke through the planet's atmosphere, lighting up due to the friction as it headed straight for Superman, and the Kryptonian could do nothing but grit his teeth as he took to the air in an attempt to stop his opponent.

The man of steel met Darkseid's fist halfway through. And Despite his small size compared to the God of Tyranny, Superman put his considerable strength to full use as he managed to stop the destructive attack.

"It's no use..." Darkseid said as he put more strength into his arm and began pushing the man of steel back toward the planet. "Today, you will perish in this barren wasteland..." He added as he continued to push Superman downward.

Gritting his teeth, the man of steel did everything in his power to stop the God of Tryany's attack, but he fell short as Darkseid's irresistible might did not fail to overwhelm him.

Suddenly, an intense golden light shined behind Superman, and a gigantic ankh appeared behind his back, instantly revitalizing the man of steel and giving him the boost he needed to push Darkseid away.

"Who are you, human? What is this?!" Darkseid asked with a frown as he staggered backward and watched the giant ankh sign slowly turn into a young man wearing an intricate mechanical suit, a golden helmet, and a flowing cape.

"Just a kid from Gotham..." The young man said, weaving complicated signs with his hands as he floated in the vacuum of space as countless machines of all sizes and shapes materialized around him.

"And I believe people call this a good, old-fashioned ass-whooping..." He added with a chuckle, joining his hands and firing a beam of concentrated golden light that hit Darkseid and sent him flying back.

"Earth-styled, bitch..." The young man concluded as he spread his arms, causing many golden portals to appear behind him with various heroes flying through them.

"Be it an ant or an anthill..." Darkseid said with a chuckle as he quickly gathered his bearings. "It doesn't matter so long as you can stomp them to death..." He added, his eyes shining red as he fired two Omega beams.

Grayson channeled his energy into his hands and prepared to intercept the attack. But he didn't need to as Superman, SuperGril, and Superboy retaliated with their heat vision and stopped the Omega beams in their tracks.

As the three Kryptonians dealt with the Omega beams, Atom Smasher suddenly jumped into the air, radiating a golden light as he grew in stature and mass until he was half Darseid's size.

Empowered by the light of order, the atomic hero let out a roar as he sent his fist flying toward Darkseid's midsection, only for the God of Tyranny to catch it and stop the attack.

Darkseid raised his other fist and prepared to bury it in Atom Smasher's face, but he had to stop and let go of the atomic hero as three giant transparent green fists materialized out of thin air, flying straight toward him.

The God of Tyranny merely waved his hands in response, dissipating the three energy constructs and sending the three Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, and John Stewart) who created them flying away.

Still, Darkseid barely had to look away from the Green Lanterns when Firestorm suddenly flew into his face, unleashing a torrent of flames straight into his eyes.

He grunted in pain as he swatted the flaming hero away, only for four more heroes to join the fray before he had time to recover, as Wonder Woman charged him, followed by Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Hawkgirl.

The four heroes quickly closed the distance and swung their weapons at Darkseid's body, causing him to stagger back even more as a giant ankh sign appeared behind the God of Tyrany's back.

Darkseid's back hit the ankh sign, and chains instantly materialized around the light construct, binding him in place. "Now! Give him everything you've got...!" Grayson exclaimed, energy constructs, elemental spheres, and machines materializing around him.

The young man unleashed everything he had, and the heroes followed suit, using everything in their arsenal to attack Darkseid, who could only struggle against his bindings. bigger

Eventually, the heroes stopped attacking, but Grayson had no intention of stopping. He rapidly weaved signs with his hands, causing a colossal golden silhouette, even more massive than Darkseid himself, to appear behind him.

"Get out of the way!" Grayson exclaimed, promptly flying away from the planet's atmosphere as the giant figure fully materialized, prompting the heroes to do the same.

"Agents of chaos shall face judgment..." The golden giant of light calmly said, its booming voice almost destroying everyone's eardrums as it drew its fist back and sent it flying toward Darkseid.

The giant fist hit the God of Tyranny, causing him to scream in agony as the golden figure pushed him into the planet's exposed core. "Order shall prevail..." The Order Entity exclaimed, turning into a stream of light that crashed into the colossal body of the Darkseid.

Silence reigned for a brief moment, only broken by a faint cracking sound as the surface of Mars shook and splintered, intense golden light slipping through the deep ravines that formed due to the impact.

Grayson watched the planet slowly collapse as he continued weaving sign after sign with his hands. He materialized a golden shield that protected him and the heroes from the ensuing explosion as Mars turned into pieces.

And even as the planet turned to nothing but star dust in front of the heroes' eyes, Grayson didn't stop weaving and even began to mutter something under his breath, confusing everyone present.

"Nita ay nem teej halmud...." Grayson said, his left and right eye glowing a dark and golden light, and his voice growing louder as he spoke. "Ele la maled doo'a..." He added, joining his hands in front of his chest with a loud clap.

As he chanted, a massive dark magical circle appeared behind Grayson's back. And another, even bigger golden circle appeared behind it, both radiating an insane amount of energy that even the less magically inclined heroes could sense.

"Naka'a ao daba'l!" Grayson exclaimed, and the two magical circles flew toward the remains of Mars as he stopped speaking, engulfing the planetary dust and dissipating it, which revealed the injured, still struggling form of Darkseid as the golden light devoured his body.

"Begone, God of Tyranny..." Grayson exclaimed as the two magical circles shrunk, compressing everything in their path, including Darkseid, into a sphere smaller than the moon.

Watching these events unfold, Grayson couldn't help but sigh in relief as he teleported everyone back to Gotham. With a smile, he materialized a giant ankh sign around the Earth and turned to the sky just in time to witness the massive explosion that shook the entire solar system.

"Alright, folks, the show is over...!" Grayson said, addressing the heroes gathered in the city. "Get your shit and get the fuck out of my city!" He added, clapping his hands as if to urge everyone to hurry up and leave.

"What are you waiting for, a fucking speech?! This ain't no damned comic book, go on, scram...!" The young man went, causing the heroes to start murmuring as the majority of them turned to leave.

However, much to Grayson's chagrin Superman was one of the few who remained and even flew toward the young man, causing him to sigh in annoyance.

"Is he... is he dead?" The man of steel asked in a hesitant tone. "Darkseid isn't the type to stay down..." He added, elaborating as he noticed Grayson's blank expression.

"No. Darkseid is not dead. That was just a reincarnation of a much more powerful being..." Grayson replied with a shrug. "It'll be some time before the original sends another mini-me to our world, so now would be a good time to free Apokalypse..." He added, gesturing to the sky.

"I thought as much..." Superman said with a tired sigh. "In any case... you and I might have our differences, but you saved my life today. You saved Earth..." He added, looking Grayson straight in the eye.

"And for that, I owe you my thanks... we all do..." The man of steel said, his tone genuine as he nodded at the young man before flying away without waiting for a reply.

The remaining heroes raised their voices in agreement as they followed the man of steel's lead and departed, leaving only Grayson and Kara flying in the sky above Gotham.

"Are we going to finish our conversation...?" Kara said as she flew toward Grayson. "I'm still holding on to that thought, you know...?" The blonde Kryptonian jokingly added with a smile as she stopped before him.

"Sorry, but you're gonna have to hold on to it for a couple more minutes..." Grayson said with a sigh as he raised his fist, equipping the Starheart power ring. "I need to do something real quick..." He added as he began weaving signs and channeling energy into the ring.

Energy leaked from Grayson's body, and a golden with bright green edges surrounded his body. "Time to make another enemy..." He muttered with a chuckle as a giant rift appeared above the city.

"I'll be taking the Starheart off your hands," Grayson exclaimed, grinning as he watched a giant green crystal fly through the rift. "Fuck yourselves, you blue bauble heads!" He concluded, promptly closing the portal in the face of the Oans and Green Lanterns trying to pass through it to retrieve the crystal.

Once he was sure the Starheat crystal was safe, Grayson was content to leave it floating over the city as he took off the Helmet of Fate and turned to Kara with a smile. "Now about that thought...?" He asked as he tossed the helmet up and kicked it into space.

"Well... I've held on to it for this long..." Kara said as she looked down and noticed her messy outfit and the grime covering her hands. "Might as well freshen up first..." She added with a chuckle.

...

Gryason's hideout

I couldn't help but sigh as I wiped my hair with a towel and watched Little Soot destroy my supposedly cat-proof couch. "I just kicked Darkseid's ass, you sassy, little demon..." I said as I threw the towel and picked up the small feline by the nape.

"If you think you can--" I remarked, pausing midsentence as Little Soot slapped me with its paw. "You know what? Never mind, you win..." I added with a sigh as I dropped him on the couch.

'Imagine defeating the God of Tyranny, only to be humbled by friggen cat in the same day...' I mused, chuckling and shaking my head as I sat beside Little Soot as he resumed mauling my couch.

"Eh... might as well..." I muttered as I checked the time before turning on the television and bringing up the news channel. "Oh... Vicky Vale sure works fast..." I remarked, smiling as I watched the Gotham Gazette reporter appear on the screen, conveying the news all the way from Metropolis.

"Although we've yet to see the full picture of the situation, several known heroes and officials have stated that the invasion finally ended..." Vicky Vale said, speaking into the microphone as she looked at the camera.

"What's more, it appears that Grayson Whitlock, the hero of Gotham, not only worked to protect his city but also played a significant role in ending the predicament, as most of the heroes we interviewed stated..." The reporter calmly added.

"We've yet to get a statement from the man of the hour himself, but we are trying our best to get a hold of him..." Vicky Vale said, smiling as she trailed at the end of her sentence. "So be sure to stay tuned till we do..." She concluded, prompting me to chuckle as I shut off the television.

"Man of the hours, she says... way to butter me up..." I said, smiling as I got up and quickly put on some nice clothes. "She'll still have to wait, though..." I added, stretching my arms as I headed for the hideout's exit.

...

The Wayne Tower

"Looks like there's a first time for everything..." Kara said, smiling as she watched me land in front of her. "You're usually the first to arrive..." She added, raising an eyebrow.

"I always like to arrive at least five minutes early..." I replied with a shrug as I returned Kara's smile. "I didn't think you'd be here even earlier than that..." I calmly added.

"I suppose it doesn't matter..." Kara said as she walked past me and sat on the edge, patting the ground beside her. "You seem much more powerful even without the helmet... did something happen...?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Well, let's just say I had to go through hell and back..." I said with a chuckle as I sat next to the blonde Kryptonian. "And I just happened to pick up a few tricks along the way..." I added in a careless tone.

"Is that so...? It looks like you picked up more than a few tricks..." Kara said as she turned to look at the Starheart Crystal, still levitating over the city. "What even is that thing...?" She asked, sounding genuinely confused and curious.

"It's the Starheat Crystal. It's kind of similar to the Green Corps' central battery..." I replied as I equipped my ring and raised my hand for Kara to see it. "I had a deal with Nabu, and this is the turnout..." I explained, shrugging my shoulders, and my words only seemed to confuse her further.

"You know Nabu, the Lord of Order... the dude living inside the Helmet of Fate..." I said, and Kara seemed to draw a blank at my words. "In any case, Nabu is just an all-powerful, jumped-up elemental entity, and an asshole at that, so let's not talk about him..." I added with a sigh, still feeling pissed off.

"Yeah... that's not a mouthful or anything..." Kara said, rolling her eyes at me. "Stil... you're already so powerful... why do you need a central power battery...?" She asked with a frown.

"If there's one thing you need to know about me... it's that I'll probably never have enough power..." I replied with a sigh, to which Kara's frown became more visible. "And to understand why I'm that way and what I do what I do..." I added, turning to the sky as I trailed off.

"You'll need to know where I came from..."