Chapter 43

Even a man who literally saw everything like Vandal Savage would be slightly unnerved the moment he stepped foot onto Apokolips. Including, but not limited to, his own recent death a few years ago at the hands of Oliver Queen. Or near death, as Savage's associates made sure he would remain strong and able.

Two of his fellow Light members stood behind him, in Lex Luthor and Queen Bee. Their forces were dwindling, but soon Savage would make a move which would tip the balance of power. One could see the tension within his companions and Savage did his absolute best to ensure things remained calm.

"They'll show."

"They better," Queen Bee responded shortly.

Lex said nothing, but one could sense the urgency in the man. To be honest, Savage could feel a tiny bit of urgency with the situation making him nervous. They would have to show, or there would be problems. The arrival of the imposing force, the lord of Apokolips known to many as Darkseid approached them. Granny Goodness, his second in command, appeared in front of them. And a trio of women, who looked very agitated stepped towards them.

Lex looked them over.

"Rough time?"

The leader of the Furies, Lashina if Lex recalled correctly, snapped her eyes towards him. The other Furies, Mad Harriet and Stompa just groaned but said nothing.

"It was that speedster. Impulse. She managed to trick us, but it won't happen again."

"No, it won't," Darkseid said.

"Those disobedient brats should be taught a very painful lesson!" Granny snapped. "Once I get my hands on them, I'll…."

One imposing hand from Darkseid came up. When Darkseid's hand came up, Granny's mouth went shut. Her furies stood as tall as they could be allowed, but they feared retaliation from Darkseid.

"Enough. Do remember that their performance is a reflection of your failures."

All of the starch had been taken out of Granny Goodness. Darkseid turned his full attention to Vandal Savage, who had obviously been waiting for some news. Darkseid intended to give it to them.

"We have four our of the five. And one still remains, but she will be brought into the fold. Soon, the ultimate weapon will be in our hands."

"Yes. And what of the League Six?"

"They are off of the board and currently being dealt with."

This response from Darkseid caused Lex to raise a single eyebrow up.

"You've left them alive? With all due respect, friend, I'm not sure that is a good idea. If I've learned something from dealing with their type, it's not to squander an opportunity."

Vandal Savage agreed with Lex in principle. However, he knew Darkseid had his own plans. He put a hand on Lex's lower back and dragged him back. It had been a small mercy, which had been rare amongst Darkseid, that his eyes traveled to Lex's face.

"You have your plans. And I have mine. And on occasion they coincide. While they have been difficult, I will manage. I've learned much from observing them. While they're not easily broken, then should be commended."

Lex, Queen Bee, and Vandal all responded with a nod. They did think the League's valor was strong, although Darkseid terrified them. Did Darkseid plan on molding the League into another set of weapons? Lex personally thought the plan was insane and a bit old hat, and so much could go wrong with it.

Darkseid had not been finished.

"Soon, there will come a time where I will see what this Superman is all about. To test whether or not he is the key. But, you are naturally here to assure me everything is going to plan."

"Yes," Savage said.

"Good, now be gone."

With the various powers and responsibilities this trio wielded, they had not been used to being dismissed. Queen Bee allowed Vandal and Lex to walk a little head. She sent a discreet message to Nora, and urged her to be careful.

"Just take a deep breath, Jen! And focus!"

Jennifer Pierce took a deep breath. Oh, she knew Anissa meant well. She really did. It was just a deep pounding erupted against the back of her head as she looked on and tried to channel her powers. The energy jolted through her and caused Jennifer to slam back.

She slid onto the chair from the backwash of the power. Thankfully, the power inhibitors allowed her to only channel a safe amount of power. And Jennifer was certain the training wheels would be taken off eventually.

"Okay, you took to this like a duck to water, but I'm not you. You always make everything so easy!"

Jen slammed her fist into the table. Anissa grabbed her sister by the hand and pulled Jennifer in.

"You're not."

"No, you're different."

Whitney and Jesse popped into the lab to check how Jennifer was doing. Not well, if the look on her face was. Whitney reached over and put her arm around Jen. She slid her a chocolate bar which Jennifer was grateful for. She needed something to ease her nerves.

"The problem is, not everyone is going to take things at the same pace. I looked at the Flash. And I thought I would never be as fast as either of them?"

"Are you?"

Jen munched on the chocolate bar and waited for Whitney to answer.

"Well, no, but I felt a lot better when I did things at my own pace."

"And you're going to make a lot of mistakes," Jesse added. "I know I did."

"And I did too," Anissa replied.

Jennifer rolled her eyes in disbelief. Her sister, who made everything easy, made mistakes. She found that pretty hard to swallow. Anissa playfully swatted her arm.

"Hey, no girl,don't give me that look. You know I did. We all did. Even Harry had his share of growing pains. The problem is you really got to just take this as it comes. Not saying you'll be going to be out there with the Team."

"Yeah, because I'm not ready for that."

Would she really be ready for that? Jennifer did not know. It was really funny. A couple of weeks ago, Jennifer was thinking about how she was going to survive third period Chemistry and get out of that class with a passing grade. And now she had these powers and had no idea how to control it.

"Even, Dad would say the same thing."

Jennifer had been reminded of her father and the secret he held. She would have not been the wiser.

"Yeah, makes sense. I guess I would have got these powers eventually without the Reach playing with me. I just lost a couple of years living a lie."

She smiled and tried to find some humor in the situation. Even though Jen wished she could channel the energy without blowing up every lightbulb in the lab.

"Okay, let's try this one again."

Anissa patted her sister on the hand.

"If you're sure?"

"Yeah, do it."

Lena, Caitlin, and Gwen were busy at work. Both checking the progress of the meta-humans which were currently under their custody. And also figuring out what was wrong with Sam. Right now, Lena had been at a loss to figure out. She wanted to help Sam.

The news regarding the attack of Black Beetle and Sam's crippling fear of what she was capable of strengthened Lena's resolve. She had been so out of it that she barely noticed Gwen's hand grip her.

"Maybe you should take a few minutes off. You're just repeating the same strains."

Lena responded by shaking her head. Maybe she should take a few minutes off to clear everything in her head.

"Just need a cup of coffee," Lena said. "Or maybe donuts. We could use donuts."

Caitlin smiled and patted Lena on the shoulder.

"I'll go downstairs and get some."

Caitlin took about three steps to the door only to find a woman standing in the door. Dark hair, dark as midnight, dressed in a formal business suit. Lena's eyes darted up and Gwen could sense her discomfort.

"Lena, what is it?"

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you I didn't want to talk to you."

Selene smiled and looked at her biological daughter. She could see the tension in her. Unfortunate, but Selene had other things to talk about.

"I wanted to give you plenty of time to process. But, I overheard you and Emma talking and I'm astonished. You have the final Worldkiller right under your nose. And she's starting to change. And you want to save her, don't her?"

"Sam's my friend," Lena said stiffly. "I believe in nurture of nature. I have to. For my own sake. You know I've got the worst of it, from both sides of my family."

Selene brushed over the slight.

"Reign is taking over her more and more. The tension of dealing with the Reach and the worry over her daughter being targeted by them is pushing her closer to that point."

Lena slapped her fist against the table. Gwen and Caitlin moved in to both hold Lena back and also step in case things got a little bit ugly. Unfortunately, there was a real chance they could.

"I'm not killing her."

"I agree."

This took Lena aback. Out of all of the things she expected to come from Selene, advocating she would not kill Sam had been one of those few plans Lena could never predict.

"Because," Selene continued. "If you kill Samantha, then Reign will rise. She may be our one chance to stop them. I just hope you're right about nurture over nature. Because, if you're wrong, we're doomed and those weapons fall through the darkness."

Gwen and Caitlin knew when Lena was upset about something.

"Is there a reason why you're here?" Gwen asked slowly. "Other than to manipulate your own daughter."

Selene stared at Gwen with a look that would chill most people to the bone and make her slump. Gwen, bravely, stood her ground. Despite Caitlin's look of great anxiety about potentially holding two people back.

"Don't talk about things you don't understand, child of the web."

"You know more," Lena said.

"Depends, are you willing to talk about this?"

Grail walked down the corridors of the prison. She walked past the Martian Manhunter, past Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, and Batman. All of them of interest in their own right. However, one particular individual Grail's eyes fell on caught her interest most of all.

Superwoman. Grail gently rapped on the chell to gain Superwoman's attention. Which she received, in full.

"Explain something to me."

She caught Superwoman's attention. Good, perfect, they would work with this one. Grail's curiosity in studying Earth's protectors through battling them several times brought questions. Questions she hoped Superwoman would answer.

"I don't understand how the woman who has powers to even rival the new gods protects insects. Especially insects who will turn on you easily. And be swayed by the propaganda Glorious speaks to them. Humanity will destroy you, even sooner than Darkseid. Surely, you must know that."

Silence followed. And Grail thought for a second Superwoman would not say anything. The moment she almost passed out of earshot, Superwoman spoke.

"I know much, and have learned a lot during my life. But there's one thing I'm curious. What are you to Darkseid?"

"I'm his daughter."

This statement caused Claire to raise an eyebrow. With Grail having her full attention, she pressed on.

"I was born from one of the Earth's Amazons. They all grew soft, other than Aresia. And even she could not do what was necessary in the end."

"Do you really think destruction would accomplish anything?"

Grail did not even consider Claire's statement for more than a second.

"Only through the Anti-Life can there be order."

Claire just scoffed a second later.

"Please. You're weak. You were born to be Darkseid's pawn and you don't have the nerve to break from any order."

"That's enough."

Granny Goodness appeared next to Grail a few seconds later. The two women locked into a staring match with each other, neither backing down.

"You should go now."

"Actually," Grail responded. "I'll go when I please."

The two women locked eyes with each other until Grail stepped back on her own accord. This caused Claire to laugh and to make Granny's gaze fall upon hers.

"Are you afraid Grail's replaced you as Darkseid's second?"

Granny slammed her hands against the cage which caused Claire to look back.

"I understand my place in the order. It's time for you to understand yours. I will break you and put you together in the right way. The way things should be."

Claire had no doubt Granny would try. She was holding together strong, the best she could. She just hoped the others were doing so in a similar fashion.

An entire group assembled on the moon. Harry at the front of it. Perdita joined them, wanting to know where her necklace lead actually. Barbara, Donna, M'gann, Genesis, and Kara all stood next to them. And from behind them, Nora Darhk showed up. She greeted the team with a smile.

"Ready for this one?"

She answered Harry's question with a nod.

"I'm ready. I want to find out about this one."

"As do I," Perdita replied. "It's been a long time coming. And I'm hoping for answers."

"We're stepping into unfamiliar territory when we step through these gates," Genesis replied. "We don't know what's there, but it might not be good. I hope we'll all be ready."

"But, it's important we find out," Kara replied.

"Oh, certainly, but we should be careful."

"I really hope that you have room in your mission for one more."

Susan Storm popped behind them, and looked ready to action. She gave Harry a searching look and the other members of the team turned to Harry.

"Of course," Harry said with a smile. "The more the merrier."

Susan just nodded and joined the group. She had not been sure what they were dealing with, but she was brimming with exciting nonetheless. Seconds passed as Harry turned his attention to Perdita, who slipped the gem into his hand. Harry pressed it into the archway.

A portal fired open and a gateway appeared right in front of them. With the key in place, the entire group slipped inside.

Awe, wonder, hit them. Barbara could not help, but speak for all of them.

"Wow. Amazing."

Towers of crystal gems shined when they stepped into the area. The wonders of this Gem World visited the entire team, as far as the eye could see. Perdita had been rather surprised. This was where her gem lead them.

"Yes," Nora said. "But, there's something not right here."

"Seriously, you have to be down on something so beautiful?" M'gann asked.

"No, she's right," Kara said. "Look ahead."

The entire team gasped when they came across a dead creature. Donna almost jumped halfway up into the air in shock and her stomach turned in disgust when they approached things a little bit closer.

"Is that a dead unicorn?" Kara asked.

"Yes, it is," Donna said. "What kind of person would kill such a beautiful creature?"

"Unicorns might be beautiful on the outside," Nora said. "But, they are wicked on the inside. And there's something not right about this one."

"She's correct," Genesis replied. "There's some strange readings coming from this creature. It is not consistent when you compare it to everything else around it."

"Stand back."

Harry could feel the same thing. Something was happening. Something corrupted the creature.

The unicorn rose up, and it's bright shiny fur turned black. Eyes turned red, teeth sharpened, and several spikes just rose from the creature. It turned towards the entire group, hideous.

Then, the unicorn put it's horn down and charged at the group.