There was a body drifting in the water.
It wasn't alone, for there were many more numerous bodies floating alongside it, numbering in the uncountable hundreds. Their corpses were torn up, each were gruesomely disfigured as the ichor of their blood seeped out to give the sea a distinct crimson taint. The heavy scent of iron lingering in the silent winds.
And earily silent it was.
There were no birds in the sky, but only the smoke and ash that blotted out the light. There should have still been signs of life beneath the waves, but there wasn't.
There was only death and ruin. Remains of fish and crustaceans carried by the water as their lifeless eyes bore no awareness behind them. Even the coral and seaweed had all been reduced to organic mush, as if the ones responsible had a very grudge against the concept of life itself.
"...C-Cough—! Ugh..." But then something broke that pregnant silence. What should have been just a cough now reverberating loudly as the only other sounds that accompanied it were the crashing of water against rock and the distant crackling of flame.
As always, life found a way even in this desolate graveyard.
My eyes fluttered open as the pain shot through my nerves like the strike of lightning. Heartbeat racing with adrenaline as my fingers twitched and my eyebrows furrowed.
"...H-Huh...?" I gasped out with confusion and a slight hint of panic, though that panic was quickly restrained as I took another breath.
The surface of the water brushed against my right as I found himself beached on the shoreline. My eyes snapping from left to right as I frantically surveyed the surroundings.
Instinctively, my upper body rose up from the ground. The sand clinging to my skin like smears of filth as it intermingled with dripping blood.
I coughed as dust shot out from my nostrils.
"...W-What...? Where...? what happened...?" I tried asking questions, but my throat was too inexplicably dry. It took great effort to form even a single vowel. My gaze fell on the water's surface, the only thing staring back me being my own face.
It wasn't a pretty sight to say the least. Disheveled could be an accurate descriptor, fucked up would be another.
I could barely be called a man, but more like a boy on the precipice of reaching manhood. Really, I was only 17-years-old.
The black, messy hair was ruffled like a bush, not like how it usually was—though that seemed to align just well with the context of this situation. My skin was fair, almost pale, a noticeable contrast against the shades of bloodied red. My clothing had been torn open with gashes and wounds visible even from a distance, leaving only the lower half unexposed.
My hand reached up and wiped away the blood from my mouth. Well, not all of it, but it was as best as I could manage with what few fingers I still had left on that hand.
Half of it was gone, severed and left to drift somewhere in the sea. My other limb had suffered a similar, if not an even more grizzly fate as the entire hand was just... not there. Only a bloodied stump and an exposed bone remained as proof of what once was.
Something had bitten it off and as I gazed into the bright amber, almost golden eyes of my own reflection—the memories came rushing back to me like a great, thunderous flood.
"A-Ah..." I almost chocked on my own saliva. Pupils continuously shrinking and dilating chaotically as my ragged breathing destabilized.
Everything... Everyone...
"...AAAAGGH!"
I screamed. My eyes bloodshot as the howling shriek erupted from my mouth. The ocean waves immediately receded as a huge path was split between the water, revealing the barren seafloor devoid of functional life.
"Ugh..." A hiccup was heard. "Shit!"
My knees buckled under the pressure of my own scream as I collapsed onto them. The sand scraping the surface of my skin as I stared down at my own torn hand, each muscle fibre shaking as tears dribbled down from the corners of my eyelids.
"W-What... is... th-this!?" I demanded of myself. "Don't do this... to me..."
There was no time to grief, crying itself was an act that wasted opportunity. Specifically, for the opportunity to continue living.
I gritted my teeth—biting the inner cheek of my mouth so hard that it bled. The pain would distract me, it always did, it was always easier to handle.
And currently, pain was not in any short supply as I observed the grim physical condition of my reflection.
There was not much to say about it. Forget being in fighting condition, I wasn't even sure how I was still kicking.
"Thank Argall..." I muttered with evident relief. My remaining hand reaching up to touch my otherwise intact torso. "...My heart is still here."
Apart from the brain and heart, everything else was secondary. I could regenerate them if need be, and even if that wasn't possible for whatever reason, there would always be spare parts that I could use as transplants.
My back went stiff as I gripped my chest tightly, my hand feeling the beating of the turmoiling heart within. Swallowing a gulp, I glanced up.
Thankfully, they were no longer there in the sky.
I didn't know why they did this, why those... creatures destroyed my world and all of... everyone.
It was funny really, I wanted to laugh, I wanted to laugh like crazy from the cruel irony.
It was suppossed to be me that looked down on a dead world, the ash and soot staining the fabric of my suit as I burned down their civilization with cold efficiency.
That was suppossed to be me, I was going to be a Vanguard! I would have contributed to the Empire as a warhero!
That was suppossed to be me.
...But no—no, no, no. Why would it be that easy? Nothing's ever that easy, not for me, never.
Because after just a single day, everything was gone, every single thing that had mattered to me, even slightly.
I still remembered his face, that face. The face that ripped out the heart of General Kreeg, the face that ruthlessly looked down as Conquest's skull was crushed under his boots, the face that showed no expression when he disintegrated my Father.
Darkseid.
"I... I-I need to get out of here." I muttered to myself as the reality of this situation came crashing down around me.
Even if the Ruler of Apokalips himself was no longer on the Planet, that didn't mean none of his forces remained.
A desolate landscape full of prime genetic material wasn't something that would just be wasted.
For all I knew, my previous outburst might have already caught the attention of a Parademon...
"...Focus." I said as I closed my eyes tightly. No need for panic, it'll only distract in moments like this.
Taking another deep breath, I arose from the sand. This time not to stand, but to float as my feet lifted from the ground.
A subtle ringing that quickly grew overwhelming shot through my nerves as dizziness assaulted me. It was like vertigo, but on a deeply spiritual level.
The last time I felt like this was in my first flight. The first time has been a consequence of inexperience, this time was the result of head trauma.
But it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.
My centre of gravity moved up to between the shoulders as the motion of flying settled in my mind.
And then I lowered myself back onto the ground before...
—WOOOSH~!
Using the momentum of leaping, I shot into the sky as my body pierced through the wind like a fish in water, kicking up dust and sand from the ground. It was freeing as the pungent smell of rotting death finally left my senses.
Droplets of faint wetness wrapped around my skin. The sea of white clinging into every curve and corner of me as I flew inside the clouds.
Gazing down from my bird's eye view, I couldn't help but feel a churn in my stomach at the devastation. No longer did the Empire stood with pride, only smoking ruins and burning infrastructure remained.
The residential districts were overrun with corpses and crashed vehiches, the industrial districts not much better as numerous chemical hazards steamed out from the broken down factories.
The smog in the air prevented most of the light from touching ground level, making it hard to see even for me. But I abruptly stopped as something huge caught my gaze.
It was a gigantic superstructure out in the distance, shaped like an oversized block of metal with pillars stabbing into the ground from its foundations. Most of the flags had been torn to shreds or burned, but one remained visible for all to see. The pole absent yet the huge flag itself covering the right side of the roof.
"Is this some sort of sign...?" I had to ask in disbelief, my throat dry as I focused my eyes.
It was the flag of my Empire, the flag with a sphere in the middle and three ascending pillars inside it.
It was the flag of the Viltrum Empire.
My gaze turned complicated as I eyes snapped between the superstructure and outerspace, wondering if I should even risk it.
I could just escape, I could just leave it all behind. In fact, that was my only option now...
But if that was still halfway functional, then... I wouldn't be completely lost, at least.
I had to do it, where would I even go without it? Flying in space with gruesome injuries and no direction was extremely dangerous, even for someone that could go FTL.
"I have to do it..." I muttered to myself, perhaps as a form of self-assurance.
With that decision made, I flew around closer and made my way to the Iterator Superstructure. Wind blowing against me as I used the cover of the clouds to hide from any potential threats. Not the best form of camouflage, but infinitely better than nothing.
Eventually, I settled myself between the bushes after a quick and quiet landing, gazing up as I immediately spotted multiple threats to my continued existence.
Hunched, insectoid creatures with fluttering wings and razor-sharp fangs patrolled the nearby areas. Some carrying energy weapons, whilst others tore through metal with their bare claws. They were quite sizeable, but not that large, only slightly bigger than myself.
Paradrones... so I was right, no way they'd leave Viltrum untouched.
These fabricated servitors were a lesser caste of Parademon. The lowliest of Darkseid's troops.
Whereas Parademons were created from the corrupted biomass of powerful creatures and meticulous techno-organic bioengineering, Paradrones were mass produced from a hodgepodge of random shit from the nearby enviroment—they were barely even capable of thought, acting only under direct orders.
Weak as they were, I wasn't foolhardy enough to abandon my initial approach. Organized Paradrone patrols signified the presence of a certain someone controlling them, someone that probably wasn't so weak.
Usually, I would have just strutted out by now, openly challenging them to a battle. But I couldn't risk anything, not with my current condition.
I continued to observe their movements from behind the bushes. Some were on watch duty, mostly those wielding energy rifles, whilst others focused on hauling Viltrumite remains.
They'll all be turned into Parademons... I realized as my arms shook from the audacity.
I still couldn't understand why Darkseid had done all of this—weren't we supposed to be allies? Benefitting from mutual gain?
I suppose it was a bit stupid in restrospect to trust the Symbol Of Tyranny. It was just a matter of time before something like this inevitably happened.
Father said something similiar back then, but we thought we had prepared enough for that eventual outcome. Oh, how wrong the Council were...
I waited for an opening—and there it was, debri falling from some nearby medical building, distracting the Paradrone guards. Faster than a speeding bullet, I flew out and rushed into an airway vent, heading inside the Superstructure.
It was a small and tight space. My eyes instinctively focused to try and unravel what laid behind the walls, yet I couldn't see much—not with the high-density metal.
The Builders had made our most important landmarks with extremely high-density materials to prevent people from blatantly taking a peek inside.
But...
Just because the metal was dense enough to block out my sight, didn't mean it was tough enough to block my punch.
In terms of physical strength, I wasn't just your ordinary Viltrumite warrior. Tearing through these walls shouldn't even break a sweat.
But overdoing it would make too much noise and attract attention. So I had to be smart with it...
Twisting a few bars open, I slipped into a parallel vent as I tried to remember the over all structure of this place.
Most of the Iterators should roughly be the same in terms of structure. But I've snuck through the vents before, so it took quite a bit of time to figure out.
Even though I couldn't see though the walls, I could still hear through them. Hearing became my most favourite sense as I relied on it to nagivate through the coiling vents and pipes.
I avoided the chittering of the Paradrones and gradually made my way to the centre. Eventually, hopeful that I was going to right place, I struck open the vent gate and landed on a silent hallway.
"There it is..." I couldn't help but sigh in relief as I saw the hatch before me. It should lead to the Core, and that sign above it with the words 'CORE' confirmed that theory.
The only problem was... how the hell am I getting this thing to open?
It had a Hexlock placed on it, visible from the glowing terminal beside it. The hatch was protected with Magic, reinforced to an unsettling degree. Only those with the given authority to enter could.
Magic... I was never good with it, I couldn't be. It had always rejected me since the very moment of my birth. No way I could figure out the Hex to unlock it.
But what if I just...?
Taking a deep breath, I hesitated, unsure if what I was about to do would even work. The risk was high, but there wasn't much of a choice.
And then I remembered an age old advice given to all young Viltrumites...
Those who hesitate, disintegrates.
I punched the terminal with all of my strength, breaking the damn thing apart. Instantly, the alarms blared.
.
.
.
Author's Note
How's the first chapter?
What a way to start 2025, happy new years, guys.
Cheers.