CHAPTER 183

Flying above the burning city of Metropolis below, Tom, dressed in his Ace costume. He spotted a hulking figure dressed in armor and with an unusually large axe in hand. 


He looked around to better understand the situation he had stumbled upon, only to see Hawk Man missing a wing as he desperately tried to defend against Steppenwolf.


Ace's customized visor highlighted a lifeless female a short distance from their fight. He looked closer and realized it was Hawk Woman who had died. "This should be interesting." He muttered as a sly grin crept across his face. 


Hawk Man had his back to the ground, with Steppenwolf's gigantic foot crushing upon his chest and cracking his rib cage. 


"Damn, he's really gonna crush the bird brain." Ace nonchalantly muttered as he watched Hawk Man literally chest Steppenwolf's might like an ancient warrior would, literally. 


He grunted as he continued his futile efforts in pushing Steppenwolf's foot off of him. "Hey big guy, I know he might seem like some tasty bird and all but I promise you this one would definitely upset your stomach" Ace said as he lowered himself down two meters away from Steppenwolf's reach." 


Ace took a pause, watching Hawk Man finally pushing Steppenwolf's foot off him as he continued his statement. "Puking and all." Hawk Man's strength wasn't enough and Steppenwolf crushed him into the ground and diverted his gaze at Ace, while Hawk Man laid on the ground as he bled from his mouth. 


"Such arrogance from a puny human." Steppenwolf said as he aggressively swung his gigantic axe right at Ace. "Know your place." He commanded as his axe came in contact with the side of Ace's torso. 


Steppenwolf's eyes widened as he noticed his axe was stopped midair and without coming in contact with Ace. Suddenly he got repelled as the power he had used to swing his axe was deflected back at him. 


His axe dragged him three steps back as he regained his balance. 


"Huh…" Steppenwolf exclaimed, turning to look at Ace with furrowed brow, wondering what had just happened. 


"I see… You aren't just here to throw your meaningless life away, you actually think you have a chance just because you have a few feeble tricks." Steppenwolf said as he used both hands to hold his weapon, tightening his grip. The head of the axe suddenly emitted a glow as yellow electricity crackled around his axe. 


"Come on Ugly, try making it worth my while." Ace replied with a cocky tone as he slid his left hand into his pocket and gestured with his right hand, for Steppenwolf to come at him. 


"You've got some spirit, but I'm afraid that it's suicide to picking a fight against one such as myself." Steppenwolf said to him before dashing into a run, he leaped into the air like the Incredible Hulk from marvel, but with an axe in hand that crackled with electrical energy. 


Mid air, he gripped upon his axe with both hands and aggressively swung it in an attempt of beheading Ace. 


The axe seemed to hit an invincible barrier as the electrical energy scattered around the vicinity and struck random objects around. Water like ripples was made visible right where the axe seemed to hit. 


"That was pretty pathetic for someone your size." Ace taunted as a huge shock wave seemed to throw Steppenwolf back in the distance.


"Seeing how you killed that bird lady over there and dismembered this bird brain, I wasn't expecting you to be so weak." Ace added, his crimson red eyes staring down at Steppenwolf as it radiated superiority. He clearly stated the fact that Steppenwolf was going to be nothing more than a workover for him. 


"How dare you insult me, human." Steppenwolf grawled as he got up on his feet, clearly pissed by Ace's disrespect towards him. "I can tell you are not a true warrior, warriors do not conceal their identities but take pride in them. So I will kill you like the vermin you are."


"Damn, that's a new one. I haven't been called that before." Ace nonchalantly remarked, not paying mind to the pissed off predator who was still adamant on severing his head from his shoulders. 


Steppenwolf grunted beneath his breath as he held on to his axe which crackled with electrical energy. "For Lord Darkseid." He said as he pushed off against the ground, leaving a crater behind. 


He dashed at Ace with his axe right behind him, ready for the perfect swing to claim Ace's head. 


He aggressively swung it at Ace's neck, but this time Ace caught his axe with his left hand. Absorbing the energy from the axe as he transferred it to his other hand. He punched Steppenwolf with a force that was greater than that of even Superman. 


Steppenwolf was sent flying through the air and crashing into a truck which exploded on impact. He could be seen darting through the smoke and towards Ace, Steppenwolf didn't let the explosion slow him down for even a second. 


He came at Ace with the same intensity as he had earlier done. "They never give up, do they?" Ace muttered as he stumped his feet on the ground, sending shock waves along the ground as it quaked. 


Steppenwolf lost his balance due to the quake, while the shock wave knocked him off his feet. Looking above him, he saw Ace descending upon him with a clenched fist. 


Just before he could roll out of the way, Ace kicked the air behind him and accelerated himself in an instant. He landed a mighty blow on Steppenwolf, burying his fist deep in his solar plexus. 


The ground gave way as the blow resulted in craters, the force of the impact led to an earthquake which tore the ground and swallowed a hospital building right next to them. 



Ace looked behind him and noticed Hawk Man with his battered body, slowly making his way to safety and with his dead lover in hand. 


Ace had a foot pressed against Steppenwolf's chest as he pinned him down, just as he had earlier done to the birdman. 


He stretched out his hand as if to reach for a distant object, when Steppenwolf's axe swung through the air and perfectly placed itself in Ace's palm. 


"Now I see why Thor loved calling for his hammer so much." Ace muttered. 


"You…Get off me." Steppenwolf said with resentment and anger in his voice as he struggled to get Ace off of him, but he could not move even the smallest muscle at the moment. 


"What sorcery have you cast upon me?" He asked  with a thunderous roar, confused as to why he couldn't even lift a finger. 


"You're one chatty bastard, you know that!" Ace said as he tapped into the energy in the axe but this time, it crackled with red electrical energy and the axe head glowed with a deep red color. 


Steppenwolf eyes widened upon seeing that light show, Ace had tweaked a bit with the energy it emitted, which resulted in that color. 


"I guess it's probably time for a makeover, ugly." Ace remarked as he lifted the axe into the air and struck Steppenwolf's head. 


"No…" Steppenwolf roared as Ace cut off one of his horns, then kicked against his rib cage as he sent him flying into another building, leveling it. 


His monstrous hand grabbed one of the broken pillars of the building he had crashed into as he pulled himself up, locking eyes with Ace who casually stood in the near distance and with both hands in his pockets. 


"How dare you humiliate me in such a manner, human. So far you have proven to be a worthy adversary, as a reward I will present your corpse as a gift to my Lord, Darkseid. We might be able to make good use of your corpse, even in death. That is too great of an honor for a vermin like yourself." 


Steppenwolf charged at Ace, he readied his claws as he went within attacking range. He attempted slashing through his throat but Ace simply dodged his attack and lifted off into the air, reaching for the other horn on Steppenwolf's head. 


He grabbed onto his horn and abruptly used it to smash Steppenwolf right into another building but ended up sending him through two more commercial buildings, destroying the city in his wake.


… 



While those fierce battles were going on over at Metropolis, the younger heroes were preoccupied fighting the Parademons which had made their way from Apokalips and were now spreading themselves in every direction.


"Come on Cyborg, give me an update on how the fights with the soldiers are going along?" NightWing asked over the coms as he battled a parademon . 


"They are scattered around the city, give me a second." He said as he made use of satellite imaging to get live footage of their individual fights. 


"Green Lantern won his fight but appears to be in pretty bad shape, while Shazam and Wonder Woman are still in battle with their opponents. Hawk Man managed to escape but we lost Hawk Woman. Fortunately someone took over his fight and held off their opponent, allowing Hawk Guy to get out of there." He summarized as he continued to type on keyboards and kept on running scans over the city for the location of the Mother Box. 


NightWing thrust one of his battens through the throat of a parademon, kicking him to the ground as he reached for the earpiece on his ear. "Who?" He asked.


"I myself can hardly believe this but he appeared to have been saved by the most wanted criminal in the country right now, Ace the Tyrant." He confirmed. 


"What!!!" NightWing, Beast Boy, and StarFire all exclaimed in unison. While Raven suddenly paused upon hearing the update, her eyes slightly widened in surprise as a barely noticeable smile made its way across her lips.



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