A Few Hours Before
Hades had left for the Underworld after a brief conversation with Kon-Rao. The god had departed with considerably more respect in his demeanor than when he had arrived, his assessment of the Kryptonian Emperor clearly revised after their brief confrontation.
Diana and Kon-Rao were floating in the sky above Gateway City. The beach below was still crowded with SHIELD agents, though most of them had finally stopped staring upward and returned to their duties of securing the area and managing the aftermath of the invasion.
Diana looked at Kon-Rao, her expression carrying a mixture of gratitude and something else - perhaps uncertainty about how to properly address someone who had just casually handled a god.
Even if it was not a full-blown fight, Hades only acted that way with beings he truly recognized.
"It is time for me to leave as well," she said. "My mother is probably waiting for me. She tends to worry when I am gone for too long."
Kon-Rao nodded in acknowledgment. The mention of her mother - Circe, the powerful sorceress - reminded him that Diana's family connections were as significant as her own abilities. Having the favor of someone connected to Hecate's chosen could prove useful in the future.
Diana hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Thank you for your help, Your Majesty."
The formal address came out deliberately, carefully chosen.
She had decided to call him by his proper title because even Hades had recognized his strength and treated him with respect.
Who was she compared to the Lord of the Underworld? She was merely a demigod, still young in the grand scheme of existence, while Hades was one of the original Olympians.
She felt a pang of regret for calling him simply "Kon" during the fight.
It had been too familiar, too casual for someone of his station. But what was done was done, and Kon-Rao did not strike her as the type to be overly concerned with strict protocols and honorifics. Still, better to err on the side of proper respect moving forward.
Kon-Rao understood immediately what was going through her mind.
He could tell from the way she emphasized "Your Majesty" the slight formality that had not been present in their earlier interactions. She was recalibrating their relationship, establishing proper boundaries now that the immediate crisis had passed.
"It was nothing," Kon-Rao replied, his tone neutral. "It was my first time facing a mystical being. The experience served as valuable combat data."
Diana thought he must be joking or being modest.
With the way he had handled the situation - casually vaporizing hundreds of Harbingers, splitting the Tetracide in half, and then striking Hades himself - he had probably faced many beings on the same level or higher than the Tetracide.
This could not possibly have been his first real fight against such opponents.
She did not voice this thought aloud, however.
When a powerful being tried to stay humble, you went along with it. That was simply proper etiquette.
If you kept praising them excessively, it would be taken as an attempt to flatter or manipulate them, which could backfire spectacularly.
So Diana just smiled and nodded, accepting his statement at face value even though she did not believe it for a moment.
Little did she know that Kon-Rao meant it completely literally.
This truly had been his first combat encounter with beings whose powers operated on mystical principles rather than purely physical or technological ones.
Every moment of the fight had been recorded and would be analyzed extensively by Dal-Ek and the other scientists aboard the mothership.
Diana's expression grew more serious.
"What you did today has placed me in your debt, Your Majesty. You saved not just my life, but the lives of millions who would have fallen to the Tetracide. Therefore, I offer you one unconditional favor in return. One time, you may call upon me for aid, and I will answer regardless of what you ask - so long as it does not require me to betray my fundamental principles or harm innocent people."
The offer was significant, Diana knew.
Favors between powerful beings carried extreme value, especially when offered by someone of divine heritage. It was not given lightly, and she hoped he understood the gravity of what she was promising.
In his mind, Kon-Rao was already calculating possibilities.
'There are many things I could use this for. Access to magical knowledge that would otherwise be restricted. Introduction to other gods or mystical beings. Assistance in acquiring certain artifacts. Or perhaps simply information about the divine realms and how they function.'
The favor was indeed valuable, though he would need to consider carefully before utilizing it. Such opportunities should not be wasted on trivial matters.
Kon-Rao nodded in acceptance and extended his hand for a handshake. "Your offer is acknowledged and appreciated. I will not forget it."
Diana took his hand, grasping it firmly. She interpreted the gesture as a kind acknowledgment from his side, a sign that they were parting on good terms with mutual respect established between them.
What she did not notice - what she could not notice - was the microscopic mechanical entity that transferred from his palm to hers during that brief contact.
The nano-bot was smaller than a single cell, designed specifically for covert surveillance operations. It would embed itself in her body and transmit location data and basic biometric information back to Kon-Rao's systems.
He had not attempted this with Hades.
The god's senses might have detected such an intrusion immediately, and the diplomatic consequences would have been severe.
But Diana, while powerful, was not at Hades's level. Her senses, though enhanced far beyond human standards, were not refined enough to detect something operating at the microscopic level.
The spy device would allow him to track her movements and get the location of her base and its visuals.
It was not personal - it was simply strategic thinking. Diana was now a known variable with connections to powerful entities, and having information about her activities could prove crucial.
"I will take my leave then," Diana said, releasing his hand and stepping back slightly in the air.
She brought two fingers to her lips and whistled sharply. The sound carried across the sky with a clarity that suggested it was enhanced by some mystical means.
Moments later, her companion arrived. Pegasus, the skeletal horse.
The creature's eyes burned with the same hellfire that it had wielded in battle. Despite its frightening appearance, there was obvious intelligence in those eyes and clear affection for its rider.
Diana mounted Pegasus smoothly, settling into position. She looked at Kon-Rao one final time, offering a small nod of farewell, before turning her mount toward the ocean.
Pegasus's wings beat powerfully, and they took off across the sky. Diana's dark hair streamed behind her as they flew, and within moments, they were just a distant speck heading toward the horizon.
Kon-Rao did not stop her or call out. Though he had many questions about the gods - their nature, their hierarchies, their weaknesses, their politics - he kept them to himself for now.
Asking too many questions would raise suspicions about his knowledge and intentions. Better to gather information gradually through observation and strategic inquiry.
'Another time,' he thought.
The tracking device would ensure he could find her again when needed.
He turned his attention away from Diana's retreating form and looked down toward the ocean where the Tetracide's body had fallen.
The water in that area was now burning with black fire that sat on the surface like oil, consuming the remnants of the massive creature.
This was Hades's work. Before departing for the Underworld, the god had set the corpse aflame with hellfire, ensuring that nothing remained of the Tetracide that could be used or studied by others. The black flames burned with supernatural intensity, reducing even the creature's soul-devouring essence to ash.
Kon-Rao muttered quietly, his voice carrying a note of disappointment. "Too bad. The biological material could have served for experiments."
The Tetracide's unique properties - its ability to consume souls, its resistance to magic, its four methods of killing - all of these represented potentially valuable data.
If his scientists could have studied the creature's physiology, they might have learned how to replicate or counter such abilities. But Hades had made sure that option was not available.
Kon-Rao did not dwell on the loss. There was no point in lamenting what could not be changed. Instead, he shifted his focus to something else.
He looked at the ocean with seemingly casual interest. To anyone watching him - the SHIELD agents on the beach, the distant news helicopters that were trying to get footage, the satellites undoubtedly focused on this location - it would appear he was simply observing the water where the battles had taken place.
But Kon-Rao's eyes were looking at something far deeper than the ocean's surface.
His x-ray vision penetrated through the water, through the layers of rock and sediment beneath the ocean floor, traveling hundreds of kilometers into the Earth's crust.
Normal vision could never achieve such depth, but his Kryptonian eyes, enhanced by yellow sun radiation, could perceive things that should have been impossible to see.
And there, buried deep within the planet itself, he saw it.
The Celestial.
It was massive beyond comprehension, its form humanoid but operating on a scale that dwarfed mountains. The being was dormant, not dead but sleeping, its consciousness in a state of hibernation.
This was Tiamut, though Kon-Rao did not know how long he was in there for.
What he did know, from Alex's fragmented memories, was that this being was growing. It was being nourished by the Earth itself.
Eventually, this Celestial would emerge. It would be born by breaking through the Earth's crust, and that emergence would destroy the planet as thoroughly as Krypton's core instability had destroyed his homeworld.
The humans did not know.
How could they? Their technology was nowhere near sophisticated enough to detect something operating at this depth. Even if they somehow discovered it, they would lack the capability to do anything about it.
Kon-Rao's mind raced through calculations.
How long until emergence? Years? Decades? Centuries? The growth rate was impossible to determine without more detailed scans and analysis over time.
But it was happening, inevitably, like a cosmic timer counting down to extinction.
The planet was not just a resource to be exploited - it was a ticking time bomb. Any long-term plans involving Earth would need to account for this Celestial's eventual emergence.
But it also presented an opportunity. If he could find a way to control or redirect the emergence, if he could harness the Celestial's power rather than simply avoiding it, the strategic advantages would be immense.
A Celestial's power was cosmic in scale, capable of shaping planets and perhaps even stars.
And there was another consideration. The Celestial was growing inside the Earth, but it had not yet awakened to full consciousness. In its current dormant state, it was vulnerable in ways it would not be once it achieved full awareness.
Could a Celestial be killed before it was born? Could it be captured, studied, perhaps even controlled?
The questions multiplied in his mind, each one leading to new possibilities and new complications.
This was not a problem that could be solved with simple applications of force. This required careful planning and extensive research.
But it was a problem worth solving. If Krypton were to build an empire in this universe, it would need to be able to handle threats on the Celestial level. This dormant being represented both a test and an opportunity.
Suddenly, a thought popped into his mind.
.....
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