Outside the DC Multiverse...
Apokolips ....
Underground Necropolis....
.....
The ruins of Urgrund looked even more ruined than it was before. Almost every towering structure that once was, had been destroyed.
The large amounts of rubble everywhere gave the place a nice touch to it. The oppressive atmosphere was engulfed in utter silence as not even the wind blew within this destroyed kingdom of the Gods.
As far as the eye could see, no life could be found in this place. Not even the Dreggs that once roamed it.
A considerable amount of time had passed since Amari's battle against the Anti Life Equation. With the loss of Arzaz's power, the underground Necropolis fell into darkness as the torches that had been lit for a million years finally went out.
The negative energy of the planet began to seep in as well with the loss of the energy shield.
The walls and floors grew hotter and hotter with each second that passed as the ruins were closer to the planet's core. Absorbing small amounts of the raging flaming energy that shot out of the holes of the planet.
And ever since he left, this city remained the same way without any form of intrusion.
And perhaps with enough time, the whole space would be destroyed. Buried completely to cover up all that suggested the old Gods once resided here.
.... At least... It should have been that way.
Thud!
The sound of a foot impacting against the ground could be heard.
Shrieekkkkkkk!
Loud shrieks akin to demon cries resounded through the cave hole as large numbers of Parademons flew out of the tunnel exit.
Despite the deep darkness, the eyes of the Parademons glowed in the dark, enabling them to see everything around them clearly enough.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The parademons all gave way as someone stepped through the tunnel exit behind them.
A large, armored creature stepped out of the tunnel with his head slightly lowered to fit through.
Raising his head and standing straight, the sight of the ruins of Urgrund fell into his eyes.
"What do we have here...?" His voice rumbled as he spoke. Within the grasp of this giant man was a silver colored axe that gave off a special luster in the darkness.
He wore armor that covered everywhere on his body, all the way up to his neck. The helm on his head had two horns protruding from the sides, stretching upward and bent slightly.
'So this is where the seismic disturbance was coming from'.
Stepphenwolf thought with a frown and made a forward gesture.
The hovering Parademons immediately scattered in all directions to explore the vast land.
Sniff!
Just then, the nose of the General of Apokolips twitched slightly.
"This .....".
Sniff.....
The smell of something he knew all too well wafted into his nose. He knew that smell.
Following which, the giant of a man took a huge leap forward. His two feet impacting against the ground dozens of meters away.
Bang!
Dust and debris flew in all directions. Stepphenwolf paid it no heed. With a solemn expression hidden behind his helm, he walked a few feet forward and lowered his body slightly.
He stretched out his arm and used two fingers to rub against something on the floor. Bringing it back to his face, the red, sticky substance appeared before his eyes, once again wafting into his nose.
".... Old Gods.". A growl emerged from his throat as Stepphenwolf's eyes narrowed to the extreme.
This was impossible. The old Gods were supposed to be dead, all of them. But the smell he perceived was no mistake.
The divine energy within the air had faded after considerable time, but the smell of God Blood wouldn't change until it completely dried up.
At the moment, Apokolips was in chaos. Darkseid was gone, and the planet was nearly destroyed. A large number of buildings had been destroyed, and the majority Darkseid's elite had been killed.
When "he" attacked, Stepphenwolf had managed to flee from the blast area in time alongside Kalibak.
As for Granny Goodness, Doctor Bedlam, Virman Vundabur, Desaad .... Everyone else was dead. Annihilated within the energy blast, not even bones were left.
With Darkseid gone and half of Darkseid's council dead, the planet had fallen into an inexplicable state of panic. And as the General of Darkseid's Army, Stepphenwolf had been organizing order on the planet while Kalibak who survived alongside him was trying to usurp the throne, gaining a firm control on Apokolips before the others returned.
If not for the fact that the seismic fluctuations that troubled the planet the same day was too big to ignore, the New God never would have come down here to investigate.
The Old Gods.... Were alive?
Rawrrrrrr!
A Parademon appeared before him and let out a small, nasal roar.
To a human, it would look like the ramblings of an alien. But to him, that wasn't the case.
"No life in the area".
The Parademon's had scoured the area. There was no trace of life that could be found within these ruins.
Stepphenwolf was a bit puzzled.
What was wrong? Could it be a mistake?
Clad in dark battle armor, the face of the New God was incredibly unsightly. Apokolips was having enough trouble as it is. If Old God's were brought into the picture....
"General Stepphenwolf".
At that moment, a female voice sounded behind him.
"....". There was a moment of silence.
Stepphenwolf didn't say a word, still deep within his thoughts.
The female didn't mind and waited.
And so, after a while of waiting..... "What is it?"
"Your son Rublon is looking for you".
"Tell that bastard I'm busy". He replied with a perfunctory tone.
Bernadeth frowned.
"He thought you might say that. And states that Lord Kalibak requests your presence".
The words fell, Stepphenwolf's face grew hideous.
'That Bastard'. On Apokolips, they only referred to one person as Lord. That was Darkseid, the Ruler of The Planet. Now Darkseid was gone, his life and death unknown.
It had barely been a few days, and that bastard son of his had already chosen to be a lackey for Kalibak, acknowledging him as the ruler of the planet.
The ugly expression was fleeting.
"I see". Stepphenwolf had little desire for the throne. At least... Not when Darkseid's fate remained unknown. Kalibak was daring enough to lay claim to the throne of Apokolips without knowing if his father was dead or alive.
His brother would probably do the same the moment he arrived.
As long as he didn't see Darkseid's corpse, Uxas's uncle would never be able to muster the will to try to rule Apokolips. Nevertheless, that didn't mean he was going to be pushed around either.
"You can leave. I will see my Nephew's son when I'm done. For now....". His eyes scanned the surroundings.
".... I have other things to do".
Thud!
Stepphenwolf fell on one knee and placed his hand on the ground.
Then, he lowered his head, closed his eyes and opened his senses.
The Parademon's informed him that there was no trace of life here.
For these mindless creatures, Stepphenwolf definitely wouldn't take their shrieks for it.
And so, to confirm whether or not there was anything alive here, he decided to take a look himself.
For a being with a nose sensitive enough to recognize the smell of blood he sensed thousands of years ago, Stepphenwolf's five major senses were vastly superior to other New Gods
And so, his hearing extended towards every corner of the Necropolis, seemingly searching for anything conspicuous.
'Nothing'. The thought passed through his mind after staying still for several seconds. His hearing continued to sweep throughout the area, a picture of every detail forming within his mind.
"Hmmm?" Several more seconds passed, and Stepphenwolf finally found something interesting.
Within the destroyed castle.... There was a courtyard with stone tiles that led to an underground chamber. One that his senses could not penetrate. The moment he tried, the symbol drawn on the ground let out a faint glow, repelling him.
Stepphenwolf opened his eyes.
Standing to his feet, his gaze was fixed on the ruined palace of the old Gods.
"Interesting.....". That was the only word he said before walking towards the castle, leaving the confused and solemn bernadeth standing behind him.
Meanwhile ... Through the enchanted floor that hid the underground passageway, was a long fleet of stairs that moved thousand of miles deep into the planet's crust.
The long staircase eventually came to end, revealing a massive ancient door nearly a hundred meters tall.
This door was the entrance to The Black Ways.
And behind this gate were numerous cells that held the withered bones of creatures who had turned to dust after being locked up in this prison for many millennia.
Going past that was another set of doors, enchanted with ancient spell symbols and powerful restriction magic.
Meant to seal away the greatest threats to the Gods of old themselves.
But unlike the other cells, the creature locked behind this one was still alive
Trapped within the darkness, a giant wolf behemoth nearly a thousand meters tall, opened its eyes.
This was Sirius, The Great Wolf God.
...
Meanwhile..... Back on Earth.
4616 N Moore Street, Gotham City (Corporate Headquarters)
The lights in the building of Strader Pharmaceuticals was still on even at this time of the night.
Recently, the company that was on the verge of bankruptcy seemed to be drugged with an overdose of vitality in the past few weeks.
Gotham City experts, journalists, news reporters and businessmen had dug deep into the matter with whatever channels they had at their disposal.
The results were surprising.
Apparently, Strader Pharmaceuticals had received fresh injection of a large amount of capital into the company's finances to resume operations on their projects.
The massive amount of a billion dollars in the first week was enough to shake the medical Industry for a short amount of time.
Gone were the days of tethering on the edge, hello to smooth research operations.
The staff couldn't be any happier.
Major news networks had gone on to disclose the possibility that Strader Pharmaceuticals had been acquired by a mysterious rich man with an abundance of assets and nothing to do with it.
The identity of this mysterious person was unknown, but Slade didn't care.
Standing at the window of a building a great distance away, the man looked at the location of tonight's operation with narrowed eyebrows.
Recent Intel suggested that Strader Pharmaceuticals had once again begun research on the Pheno Drug.
After learning of this organization's past, Deathstroke just felt that things had gotten tricky.
Before, the company was on the edge of bankruptcy. As long as they approached someone with enough authority, they could negotiate a deal to successfully buy the defective formulas needed for Doctor Langstrom's research.
As for why not steal it directly?
Slade wanted to avoid Batman as much as possible.
Sure enough, even when they called in an Airstrike to destroy Langstrom's apartment with Batman in it, the Caped Crusader still didn't die.
Talk about difficult to kill.
Anyway, it wasn't his money being used to trade for the Serum, so Slade didn't mind having it done the easier way. In fact, he quite preferred it.
But now, things had changed. Research and development had resumed. The need for trade had disappeared due to it.
Now, they could only go with plan B.
For Doctor Langstrom to complete his work, the defective Super serum developed by Strader Pharmaceuticals was essential.
.....
Time had gone well into the night. And at this moment, Strader Pharmaceuticals suddenly experienced a power outage.
A quiet infiltration planned by Deathstroke and his team was taking place right that minute. Unknown to them, however, a blonde girl, dressed up in a green costume, mask, a bow in her hand and a quiver full of arrows was silently watching their actions, ready to intervene at any time.
...
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