Earth -1.....
Ten minutes ago.....
Central City.
...
Screech!
Compared to what it should be, it now looked more like a modern ruin.
Majority of the tall buildings within it were practically wrecked, collapsed or had a huge chunk of it missing. The waterways were filled with rubble and floating corpses.
The asphalt on the roads and tall building structures were charred black with most of them being set aflame. The bright yellow sun and the burning pillar of flames shooting out of the earths core in the middle of the city didn't help either.
The streets were deserted of all practical life, as the vast number of citizens had either died during Superman's rampage or fled right after.
The rest were divided into two parties. Those who were found and killed by Parademons, and those who hid as deep as they could to avoid death.
Occasionally, they would come out of their hideouts in search of food with careful movement to avoid the occasional Parademons patrolling the skies.
Sometimes they would succeed.... Sometimes they wouldn't.
And so, the survivors of this new apocalypse had lived in this way for the past year after the Justice League failed to stop Superman from destroying it.
But today, someone did the opposite.
Screech!
A patrolling Parademon swooped down towards the old figure standing in the middle of an alleyway with a loud screech.
However.....
A flash of blue lightning lit up the dim alleyway, covered under the shadows. Following which, the headless corpse of the Parademon fell to the ground with a thud.
Blood oozed out, forming a puddle and spread quickly towards the feet of the one who killed it.
A pair of worn out shoes came into view, expanding to show the appearance of a tattered looking old man.
With torn clothing, skinny figure and a disheveled look, this male who looked thin from hunger walked away from the corpse of the monster he just slayed with an unusually calm face.
Gone was the wariness one would usually find on the face of a survivor scavenging for food while on the lookout for Parademons.
"Argh!"
However, he had barely taken a few steps when he collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest with a pained expression.
Hidden underneath the clothing, streaks of dark curse marks could be vaguely seen, spreading across his body from the long, hideous wound that extending from one end of his abdomen to the upper shoulder area.
"What.... is this?" The man uttered with great difficulty as his disguise began to fade. His features morphed from a disheveled old man with dark hair and skinny features to an even older looking one with grayish white hair and a full beard.
The dark green eyes turned to bright red ones filled with unprecedented solemnity.
Ares!
The old God examined his physical condition, his frown never being so great.
'It seems I've greatly understated his means'. When Amari threw the ominous chain back at the hidden realm, although he reacted in time, the barbed edges tore a bloody wound right through his chest area.
Following which, he immediately fled through the Breach and appeared in this universe while using his divine power in an attempt to heal himself.
He failed miserably, and if anything, his actions only served to worsen his situation.
Whatever.... This thing was, it seemed to be the natural enemy of the Gods as it devoured his power and spread rapidly like some kind of evil curse.
No matter how much energy he diverted to suppress it, the dark curse marks just swallowed them all.
Ares was an old God who had lived for thousands of years. Never before had he seen anything like this.
He could feel the pure evil energy emanating from his chest area, trying vigorously to expand and take over.
It felt like what those humans called a virus.
If it were back on the earth he fled from, he should have already succumbed. However... Although it had only been a few hours, Ares was no longer the dying God he once was.
The pain pulsed for only a few moments before fading away as his body was flooded with new energy. The fading disguise stabilized as the God Of War once again returned to his feet.
He raised his hand and clenched it into a fist, feeling the pure, astonishing power flowing through his veins.
As for where this power was currently flowing from.....
Boom!
The sound of a building collapsing fell into his ears.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The loud booms reverberated throughout the city, accompanied by the earth quaking from time to time.
This was where his power came from. One thing that Ares had missed for a long, long time.
War.
As soon as he was injured, the curse marks began to spread from the point of contact. Ares, had mustered everything he could to flee through the portal leading to unknown places in the multiverse.
He arrived through the portal and happened to land in an underground chamber on the outskirts of Central City. With his weakened state, the marks spread like a plague, particularly stimulated by his blood and divine energy.
Barely moments later, all his energy was swallowed up and all that was left was for the God Of War to cease to exist.
But just as the marks were about to completely consume him. His Godhead suddenly thrummed, releasing a large amount of energy at once, like a dry well that suddenly ushered in a multitude of fresh water.
However, moments later, the breach in the underground chamber suddenly collapsed upon itself, swallowing everything in its surroundings within a two-mile radius like, a black hole, before disappearing.
Luckily, he had escaped from the range before it happened. Now outside Central City, a large hole spanning for two miles and nearly forty meters deep.
Few minutes later, he used his power and discovered a survivor. An old man who he was currently disguised as. Then he invaded the latter's mind, turning him into a vegetable in the process, and understood the state of this world.
This earth ... Had been riddled by war. The fight between the Justice League and Superman provided him with the much-needed power to temporarily suppress his ailment.
And with each passing second, he could feel himself growing stronger. With his weakened state, this new flow was akin to an exhausted horse being injected with stimulants and steroids.
And the best part of it was, he didn't even have to lift a finger.
The God Of War turned his head to look back at where the explosive sounds were coming from. Then... He ignored them and continued to move forward.
Ares had no intention of interfering in their fight. The longer it continued, the more he would benefit.
For now, the God of War was searching for something else. Another Breach through which he could use to return to Earth 16.
And moments ago ... He found one. Right above the skies of Central City. It was through this same breach that Wonder Woman fell through into this world.
Walking towards the area where the breach hovered over, Ares began to ponder his future plans. This earth was an unexpected yet favorable encounter.
Hence, he didn't plan to leave. At least not now.
After all, once he returned to Earth 16, the blessing of War would be gone. With nothing to suppress the curse seals currently infesting him, he would die minutes after returning.
Not to mention that there was an even more troublesome existence probably waiting for him on the other end.
He couldn't go back, but he also couldn't stay here for long. The key to achieving his ultimate goal was back on Earth 16, sealed deep in the Earth's crust, waiting for him to release it.
It happened then, Ares's footsteps came to a halt as he felt something.
Raising his head, he looked towards the sky where the breach that connected both worlds laid, and his expression had a noticeable shift.
Because in the skies above Central City, the breach that had been giving off stable fluctuations began to grow erratic.
The space around the breach turned chaotic as swirls began to appear.
Although his facial expressions didn't change, Ares's eyes had narrowed to the extreme as he took two steps back with caution.
The destruction of the last Breach was still fresh in his mind. And everything within a two-mile radius was swallowed into it before it disappeared, leaving a massive hole in the floor.
He didn't want to be close to this one if it followed the same pattern as well.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason he was being cautious.
He had studied the breach that led him here back on Earth 16 and, similar to this one, both gave off the same universal frequency.
In short, this breach, just like the one that brought him here, led to nowhere other than Earth 16. But it was impossible for normal humans to safely transverse worlds without either being blocked or getting ripped to shreds mid-travel.
And after he came through, someone else just happened to be following. No doubt, Ares was worried that Amari would be the figure to step out of that swirling gate, hence his cautious actions.
However, what he was wary of didn't come through.
The portal twisted for several seconds before releasing a pulse of energy into the surroundings. And then.... Nothing.
The breach had returned to normal, but nothing had come through. Perhaps to others, this would have been the final conclusion.
But Ares wasn't just anyone. In his perception, a large flying aircraft appeared out of the breach. As for why it wasn't visible to the naked eye... That was because it was cloaked.
Normal people would be unable to see through the camouflage at all.
Unknowingly, The God Of War breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't who he was worried about. Nevertheless, Ares's gaze on the flying craft never shifted as numerous thoughts crossed his mind.
All he knew was that this aircraft was from Earth 16. He didn't know who it belonged to or what their purpose was, so he was completely unsure of his next move.
However, while the God Of War pondered his course of action...
Screech!
His attention was drawn by something else completely beyond his control. Currently, there were numerous Parademons hovering above him in the sky as the roar of the first Parademon he killed had attracted more.
A second later, they all swooped down to attack.
'Troublesome'. Ares thought with a frown on his face. His strength was rising but slowly. And his divine power now was currently limited.
Expending it to deal with some monsters was not ideal amidst the suppression of the Curse marks.
However, just as the Parademons were about to attack...
The cloaked Bioship suddenly changed direction and flew towards him.
The hatch at the bottom opened up and.....
The next moment, a Superboy suddenly jumped from it.
.....
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