Chapter 27

Apollo lunged, faster than before, a blue-and-red blur as he closed the distance between himself and The Gorgon. This time, there was no hesitation in his attack.

His fist collided with the air where The Gorgon had just been—but the assassin was gone.

Apollo felt the shift in the wind. He pivoted just in time to see The Gorgon reappear behind him, sword already mid-swing.

Apollo caught the blade between his hands.

Sparks exploded from the katana as the two struggled against each other. The Gorgon pushed forward, his unnatural strength straining to keep them locked in place and inch the blade towards Apollo's face.

Apollo pushed back easily overpowering him and as he did so Apollo felt it.

There was something… wrong about the blade. The way it vibrated in his hands. It wasn't just a sword—it was something more.

The Gorgon sneered. "

"You're incredible," he admitted. "But you're still just a boy."

Apollo's grip tightened.

CRACK!

With one motion, he snapped the katana in half.

The Gorgon's eyes widened in pure disbelief. No one had ever done that before.

Apollo didn't give him time to recover.

He slammed his forehead into The Gorgon's face.

The assassin staggered back.

"Impressive," he admitted. "You move like lightning and strike like thunder. But I have killed gods, boy."

Apollo met the Gorgon's gaze. Remembering all the training sessions he had had with Ikaris and Makkari. Remembering just how powerful his family was, confidence filled him and he couldn't help himself as a cocky smile came to his lips.

"Then you've been fighting weak gods"

The cavern pulsed with tension, the flickering torchlight casting jagged shadows along the rough stone walls. Apollo stood firm, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm, while The Gorgon adjusted his stance, the remains of his shattered katana gleaming faintly in his grip.

"You're strong," The Gorgon admitted, tilting his head. "But you rely too much on brute force. Power alone isn't enough to kill me."

Apollo rolled his shoulders, his cocky smile unbroken and his confidence unshaken.

"Good thing I'm not here to kill you." He raised his fists. "I'm here to stop you."

The Gorgon's expression darkened.

Then, he moved.

Apollo barely saw it—a blur of motion faster than the eye could track. The Gorgon vanished into the shifting shadows, his presence slipping through the cavern like a phantom.

But Apollo wasn't fooled.

The moment The Gorgon struck, Apollo pivoted, ducking as the assassin's broken blade sliced through the air where his throat had been. Before The Gorgon could recover, Apollo struck back.

BOOM!

A single punch landed against The Gorgon's chest, launching him backward like a cannonball. He crashed through two stone pillars, shattering them into dust, before rolling to a stop.

The assassin coughed but didn't stay down.

"You hit hard." He wiped his mouth, his healing factor already sealing the damage. "But I'm faster."

The Gorgon blurred forward once more before Apollo could even blink.

The Gorgon was nearly above him, flipping downward with an aerial slash that would have split a tank in two.

He truly was fast but Apollo had calibrated to his movements and speed now and knew as fast Gorgon was, Apollo was faster.

Apollo smirked and met him mid-air.

He flew upwards, soaring straight up and punching The Gorgon in the chest. The Gorgon crashed into the roof of the tavern his blade crashed into the ground below, splitting the stone beneath their feet right before he fell down right beside it.

Apollo hovered above the battlefield, his clothes rippling in the cavern's unnatural wind. He didn't waste a second.

His eyes blazed.

A beam of searing heat vision shot down like a solar flare, slicing toward The Gorgon with enough force to cut through steel.

The assassin flashed sideways, narrowly avoiding the blast, the heat scorching his arm as he grabbed his blade. He kick flipped back onto his feet and lunged back at Apollo, kicking off a wall and throwing his broken blade like a dagger.

Apollo tilted his head—the blade missed him by inches.

But The Gorgon had anticipated that.

He ran behind Apollo at incredible speed.

With inhuman strength, he grabbed Apollo's red jacket and yanked him downward, slamming him into the cavern floor hard enough to crack the earth.

The cavern shook.

Dust and rubble rained down as Apollo groaned from the impact. But as The Gorgon moved in to finish him—

Apollo's lips parted.

And he screamed.

A sonic shockwave erupted from his throat, a powerful blast of sound and force that struck The Gorgon head-on.

The entire cavern rumbled under the power of Apollo's voice. The Gorgon was thrown back like a ragdoll, his body slamming into a wall so hard that it cratered. The impact left deep fissures in the rock, sending large chunks of stone cascading down.

The Gorgon snarled as he stood up, his supernatural healing already at work. He wasn't just strong—he was relentless.

But Apollo wasn't finished.

Before The Gorgon could blink, Apollo was in front of him again.

This time, he exhaled.

A blast of arctic breath hit The Gorgon like a winter storm. Ice coated the assassin's arms, creeping along his skin and freezing him in place.

The Gorgon's eyes widened. He struggled, but his limbs were stiff—frozen solid.

Apollo cracked his knuckles.

"You heal fast, right?"

Then, with one devastating punch, he shattered the ice and sent The Gorgon flying across the cavern.

The Gorgon crashed into the remnants of a failed altar, buried beneath the debris.

Silence.

Apollo watched the rubble, waiting. His super-hearing picked up the faintest of movements beneath the wreckage. He wasn't down yet.

Then, from the depths of the dust and broken stone, came laughter.

Low. Amused.

The Gorgon rose.

His body was bruised and bloodied, his long hair tangled with dirt and debris. But he was smiling.

"You really are what I need," he murmured.

Apollo frowned. "What?"

The Gorgon chuckled, his pale face shadowed by the flickering torchlight. He removed his sunglasses from his pocket and put them back on, sliding them back onto his nose.

"You were right. I was looking for power. I came here looking to create The Black Sky."

He took a step back, retreating into the darkness.

"But now I see…" His red eyes gleamed behind the lenses. "I wasn't here for that at all. Destiny was leading me to you all along."

Apollo tensed, ready for another attack—

But The Gorgon said nothing. Instead, he vanished into the shadows, his laughter echoing through the chamber.

His last words echoed in the cavern like a ghost.

"One day, I will return for you."

And then he was gone.

Apollo remained tense, scanning for any sign of him. But he was truly gone.

The fight was over.

Apollo turned back to the ritual site—and saw the worst. The ninjas held a blindfolded Corey in place. As the leader of the ritual took a bowl and filled it with meteor infused elixir bringing it close to Corey as he pleaded.

Montgomery Mankins lay unconscious a few feet away, still knocked out from the initial chaos.

The elixir pulsed, as if alive.

The ritual leader—his face covered in red markings—raised his hand, about to force Corey to drink. The teenager thrashed, trying to resist—

Apollo's stomach turned. He had to move.

He took off like a missile, the ground shattering beneath his feet as he launched himself at the ritual site.

And then, Apollo arrived.

He crashed into the ninjas, sending them flying with effortless force.

The ritual leader turned, eyes widening—

Apollo crushed his wrist in his grip.

The man howled in agony as Apollo ripped him away from Corey, and then threw him sending him crashing into the wall.

Apollo didn't hesitate. He threw the bowl into the air—

And obliterated it with a single blast of heat vision.

The molten contents sizzled as they scattered into the air, the glow dying before it could be used. The ritual was over.

Corey coughed, gasping for breath as Apollo removed his blindfold.

Apollo turned to him, his expression urgent. "Are you okay?"

Corey nodded frantically. He looked completely shaken. Corey exhaled in relief, his entire body shaking

And then—

"NO!"

Montgomery Mankins had woken up.

His eyes darted wildly, taking in the destruction, the ruined ritual.

Montgomery lunged for the elixir. His fingers grasped the basin, his eyes wild with desperation.

"They promised us power!" he screamed. "They promised us eternity!"

Apollo didn't hesitate. He threw Montgomery away and then he shattered the basin with a single punch. The molten mixture hissed and evaporated the moment it touched the ground, burning away into nothing.

Montgomery collapsed beside it, his face twisted in despair. "No… no… no…"

He staggered to his feet. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!" he roared.

Apollo turned to him, his expression ice cold.

"I stopped you," he said simply.

Montgomery seethed. "You've ruined everything! We could have been gods!"

Apollo took a step forward.

"No," he said, voice sharp as steel. "You could never be a god, even if you transformed all you ever would've been is all you've been your whole life. A monster!"

Montgomery's lip curled. "You don't understand—"

"I understand everything." Apollo's eyes burned—not with heat vision, but with fury.

"I know about the trafficking. The workers you forced into this nightmare. The experiments. The deals you made to turn your own son into some kind of weapon."

Montgomery paled.

Apollo took another step forward. "And I also know that, right now, every single thing you've done is being exposed to the world."

Montgomery froze.

Apollo continued. "Your secrets? Gone. Your power? Stripped." His voice lowered. "You're done, Montgomery. You and your entire empire."

Montgomery stumbled back.

It was over.

And he knew it.

Apollo turned back to Corey.

"You're free," he told him. "You don't owe your father anything. Hopefully one day you can do something better with your life."

Corey swallowed thickly and nodded, looking away.

He and his father then rushed out of the ritual site. Apollo knew they would probably try to escape but it was too late for that. No doubt Chloe, Skye, Pete and Gloria had already revealed everything.

Apollo then turned to the remaining workers—the immigrants who had been forced to dig, some of them still in chains.

His jaw tightened.

He ripped off their chains.

"Nobody will ever put you in chains again. Not as long as I'm still breathing" Apollo said to them in Spanish.

He then moved toward the digging machinery—the strange drills used to carve deep into the rock for whatever Montgomery and The Gorgon had been after.

He clenched his fist and then struck the machine.

One punch.

That's all it took for the first machine exploded into scrap metal.

Apollo didn't stop. He moved through the entire site, tearing every last piece of equipment apart, ensuring nothing remained.

Apollo took out all the anger he felt towards the injustice he and his friends uncovered on the machines. When he was done the very chamber itself was nothing but a wreckage.

Finally, he left walking out to find the turned the workers. Still scared and staring at him, no doubt wondering what the way forward was.

"You're safe now," he promised them. "Let's get you out of here."

They nodded in relief.

As Apollo led them away, something stirred in him. He looked at all the men and women he had saved and realised if it wasn't for him they wouldn't be free, they may not even be alive.

Facing off against all the darkness that had been hiding in his home showed him something. It showed him that he needed to do more.

He needed to embrace his abilities and use them to help more because if he hadn't done that then nobody would have been saved.

Apollo looked at the people and he made a vow to himself on behalf of them, on behalf of everyone who couldn't fight for themselves or found themselves in danger or being abused by a power they couldn't overcome.

He would fight for them, he would protect them from danger and he would overcome any power that threatened the lives, happiness and futures of anyone in Smallville.

He would save, anyone and everyone he could.

Apollo felt purpose fill him and then glanced once last time into the darkness—where The Gorgon had disappeared.

His words still echoed in his mind.

"One day, I will return for you."

Apollo clenched his fists.

"Let him try."

—

Chloe and Pete published the article online while Skye and Gloria leaked everything about the Mankins and by the time the next morning rolled around everyone in Smallville was aware of what the Mankins had been doing and about how the Deputy and other members of the sheriff's department helped them keep everything under wraps.

Chloe truly was right, journalism was the great equalizer. It could be a way for Apollo to help people even without his powers. Exposing the truth could bring the most powerful men down just as much as Apollo's fists could and it could inspire change in a way Apollo couldn't hope to yet.

Gloria and Francisco reunited and Ajak healed Carlos's injury.

The people who Apollo rescued went back to their families and the Mankins and everyone involved who was able to be caught were set to be put to trial for human trafficking and abuse.

And as a wonderful cherry on top the stop and search law didn't get passed. Apollo's faith in the people of Smallville proved to be warranted. Smallville really had shown its true colours and even though there was darkness lurking, Apollo felt a renewed sense of hope seeing that he could keep his trust in people to do the right thing and choose empathy and kindness.

Apollo and his friends celebrated the following night throwing themselves a miniature party at the Torch. They all played games, drank (soda not alcohol) and danced happy to have helped so many and eager to move on from what was undoubtedly the darkest thing any of them had ever encountered. Gloria and Francisco even joined in overjoyed and thankful to be with one another once again.

That night the Torch was filled with the sounds of teens having fun, music blared and they all cheered and laughed with one another.

That night the group of teens that took down the Mankins partied their hearts out.

—

Elsewhere in Smallville

A Hammer Industries employee was just getting home. He unlocked the front of his house and went to his kitchen to get something to eat. He began rummaging through his fridge but stopped when he heard something. The man, John Neville, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and then slowly walked through his house. He walked into his leaving room turned on the lights and found a tall and large man sitting in his recliner. The man was dressed in all black, he had black leather pants, black combat boots, a black leather shirt and a hood that shrouded his face.

"Mr. Neville, I'm happy to see you made it home safely" the masked man ominously said.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?" John said as he began to feel fearful still holding out his knife to look threatening but all it did was elicit a chuckle from the masked man.

"I'm hurt Mr. Neville, a simple hood and you don't recognise me" the man said to him putting his hand over his heart to feign anguish.

"Look I don't know what kind of sick prank or game you're playing but if you don't leave I'll be forced to call the police" John Neville threatened.

"Why would I leave? We were just about to catch up. As I recall the last time we spoke you were taking a contract that could've greatly helped me and my men" the man said.

He took a slow step forward his voice becoming darker and more menacing.

"We were all ready to help build our own power station. Years of working to get ourselves in a position to be an alternate power solution for Smallville finally bearing fruit but then Hammer Industries came swooping in and took it. Hammer sold everyone on his plan to build safe nuclear power stations. To make Smallville one of the leading energy providers in the state. He called his little plan Project Atom and everyone loved it" the man continued.

John gulped and took a step back sensing the danger he was in.

"I was immediately ruined, as was my business and all my years of work went to waste. The day of the meteor shower I urged you to leave us the one site we had for our station. We already were partially operational and had radium. You and Hammer Industries could build everywhere else but just leave us our station. But Justin Hammer told me that he couldn't do that." the man said.

He took his final steps towards John closing the distance between them and pulling his hood down.

"He told me 'what kind of man would I be if I let a second rate business provide second rate services' and then right after he left you came to me and said 'clear the premises as soon as possible' before you drove off. And so I spent the night of meteor shower handling Radium as my dreams crumbled before me" The masked man said his voice dark and menacing as he got right up and personal with Mr. Neville.

"Oh my god, Albert? Albert Martin" Mr. Neville said finally recognising his voice and his face.

"Ding, ding, ding." Albert Martin said.

"Look Albert it wasn't personal it really was just business. Hammer was the one who wanted your land and Radium all I did was facilitate the agreement like any good lawyer would. If you want I can get you work on one of Hammer's plants. Help get you back on your feet. There's no need to try and threaten me in my home" Mr. Neville said stepping backwards once more.

"I'm not here to threaten you and I am not here to beg for your scraps like some stray dog that's been left out on the street to die. No I am here to show you what I have become, what you and Hammer made me" Albert said as he started to have a strange glowing purple aura.

John Neville began to sweat out of sheer terror as Albert closed the distance between them dwarfing over him and looking down at him.

"This is how you plan on showing me the man you became? Threatening me in my home? What kind of man do you think that makes you?" John Neville asked nervously gripping his knife tighter and steeling himself.

"I am so much more than a regular man John, as you're about to find out. And once I am done showing you I'll show Hammer too" Albert Martin said.

He grabbed John by his collar only for John to stab his abdomen with the knife that was in his hand.

However instead of cutting through his skin, the knife broke as if he had tried to stab concrete.

Albert laughed menacingly as he began to glow with purple nuclear energy. His skin turned black with cracks spreading across it, like he was made of molten rock. A purple fiery glow filled the cracks that were across his skin. And then his head transformed; the skin melting away leaving only his skull. A skull that was now encased in purple nuclear fire. A hot aura of purple flame enveloped his body causing things around him to catch fire. Alberts eye sockets had purple glowing embers in the centre, embers that pulsed like miniature explosions. He lifted John Neville up and laughed once more.

"I told you I was more than a man" Martin said with a sadistic chuckle.

"What are you?" John asked his voice dripping with fear and pain as he felt the skin on his neck begin to melt as Albert strangled him.

"I'm the man who's going to crush Hammer and his plants, ruin Project Atom like it ruined me. Before the meteor shower, I was an ordinary man, I was powerless... Now I possess the ultimate power. Now I am a god. I am the Atomic Skull!" Martin bellowed.

John Neville pissed himself from fear and the Atomic Skull laughed.

"And to your everlasting horror, you shall feel my power!" Martin told him before throwing him across the room.

John smashed into the wall and slowly got back up. He grabbed a nearby lamp and through it at Albert but he simply backhanded it away. John started trying to run away but Al moved far faster than he could. He grabbed him up lifting his entire body into the air before throwing him into the ground.

John spat up blood and writhed in agony his back exploding with pain. Albert then grabbed his collar and began punching him in the face.

The punches were torture; every hit wasn't just hard enough to break bone but also hot enough to melt skin.

John tried to plead but Albert just laughed and laughed as he enjoyed slowly killing the man who helped ruin his life.

Albert heard John begin to cry and beg for his life but that was just music to his ears.

Finally finishing reveling in John's torment Albert grabbed John's head holding it in between both of his hands and then summoned his atomic power causing a miniature nuclear explosion to detonate in his palms.

John's head was instantly vaporised and the burning remains of his body crumpled to the floor. Albert chuckled as the fires caused by his presence finally caught onto the rest of the house and it went up in flame.

"One down, one more to go" Atomic Skull said to himself his mind filled with thoughts of his next target.

His mind filled with thoughts of Justin Hammer.

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Also read Superman(Marvel+DC) and Marvel: Hyperion.