Max caught up to Darkseid in a sudden blur of speed and drove another punch straight through the air.
Boom!
Darkseid was launched upward again, teeth breaking loose from his mouth as his body ripped through the sky. For a moment he stabilized mid-air, rage etched across his face as the Omega Aura around him flared violently. The cracks spreading across his face crawled down into his arms, glowing with crimson light,his body was collapsing from being pushed too far.
He roared as mega Beams erupted outward from his eyes in a thick stream, then fractured into hundreds of smaller zigzagging lines that flooded the sky and rushed towards Max who reacted instantly, raising his arms to block, but one beam punched straight through his guard and tore into his arm. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself not to slow down as more beams began locking onto him from every angle.
The ground beneath Max exploded as he burst into motion.
He sprinted across the battlefield at extreme speed, weaving through the incoming Omega Beams as they carved craters into the earth behind him. The attack split further, flanking him from the left and right, cutting off every escape route. Max stopped abruptly.
He crossed his arms and roared.
"Haa!"
A violent surge of energy erupted outward from his body, expanding in a dome-like shockwave. The incoming Omega Beams were shredded apart on contact, detonating mid-air into cascading explosions that filled the horizon with smoke and fire.
Darkseid emerged from the blast cloud already mid-attack, fist extended.
Max ducked under it cleanly and drove a devastating strike into Darkseid's stomach. The impact folded him in half, forcing air and blood out of him. Before he could recover, Max followed with a knee to the chin and finished with a brutal uppercut that shattered Darkseid's lower jaw and sent him spinning upward again.
Darkseid stabilized in the air, eyes burning with rage as he gathered Omega energy into his right fist. The power condensed into a massive glowing sphere before he unleashed it downward in a colossal blast.
Max raised one hand.
A thin, concentrated beam of lime-yellow energy formed in his palm. It fired forward like a razor and sliced directly through the Omega blast, splitting it apart cleanly before continuing upward. The beam struck Darkseid square in the chest and pushed him higher into the atmosphere, forcing a roar of pain from him as was blasted into space.
Max's aura flared wildly as the ground beneath him shattered as he launched himself upward again, turning into a streak of light as he chased Darkseid into the sky.
Meanwhile, down on Earth
The tremors finally ceased. Thena slowly lowered her hands. The massive wooden dome she had been maintaining for protection,scorched, battered, and blackened from repeated shockwaves,finally collapsed inward in controlled segments and sank quietly into the ground.
A sudden flash in the sky caught their attention.
They all looked up. Another flash followed, then another, alternating between yellow and red high above the clouds.
"Hera," Hippolyta murmured.
"They're monsters," Beast Boy whispered.
Another flash lit up the sky,dimmer this time, and further away.
"They're moving away from Earth," Batman said.
"Of course he'd take him away," Constantine said. "There's only so much this planet can handle."
"He's right," Cyborg added. "Ever since they started fighting, natural disasters have been occurring all over the planet."
"So do we proceed with the plan?" Flash asked.
"That would be unwise," Batman said.
"Agreed," Cyborg seconded. "Their current trajectory appears to be Apokolips. That is not somewhere you want to be when those two arrive."
"It's better we wait," Wonder Woman said. She paused, then continued. "Although this would be the ideal opportunity to sabotage it in the middle of the chaos,we'd also be putting ourselves directly in Max's way. We could end up being used as leverage against him."
The others nodded in understanding.
Superman nodded too, though his jaw was tight. He just wanted this to be over. He wanted Darkseid's threat ended once and for all after everything that man had put them through,but he hadn't abandoned all logic to see that through.
----------
Darkseid tumbled through space several times before catching himself. His rage had reached its boiling poin,any further and it would consume him entirely. He scanned the vast, empty darkness for Max.
He spun around with a sharp chop that struck nothing but empty space.
He felt a presence behind him again and turned but he was too late.
Max was already there, driving hundreds of punches into his stomach in rapid succession before Darkseid could even process the movement. Darkseid vomited blood, some of it splattering it across Max's face and chest as his eyes flared red, Omega Beams building behind them as max vanished.
He reappeared behind Darkseid via Instant Transmission and drove a kick square into his jaw. Darkseid was sent hurtling toward Apokolips at tremendous speed, tearing through satellites on his way there, debris scattering in his wake. His vision blurred. He shook his head, trying to force the dizziness away and saw a gigantic yellow ball of energy screaming toward him.
He threw his arms up to block it. It didn't work. The blast overwhelmed him completely, pushing him back even faster, driving him toward Apokolips like a comet.
"ARGHHHHHHHHH!"
Darkseid roared in agony as the ball of energy expanded on impact, reaching the surface of Apokolips and detonating in a catastrophic explosion that bloomed across the planet that was even visible even from Earth. Thousands of Paradooms patrolling the surface were wiped out in an instant.
Deep inside Apokolips, Desaad lay flat on his stomach, arms thrown over his head, as the entire planet shook violently around him. Lights flickered in the bunker. Dust raining from the ceiling.
If this continued, Apokolips wouldn't survive.
Darkseid slowly rose from the crater, his body scorched, the crimson Omega aura that once surrounded him now completely gone. For the first time, there was no overwhelming pressure radiating from him, only raw damage and fading power.
Then he saw Max,a streak of energy tearing toward him.
Darkseid didn't hesitate. Gathering what little strength he had left, he blasted off to the side just as Max came crashing down.
Boooooom!
Apokolips shook violently once again. The surface fractured under the impact, cracks racing across the terrain as entire sections of the planet collapsed inward. Underground structures caved in, fire and debris erupting from below.
Darkseid didn't stay to find out what would happen next as in an instant, he forced himself back into space.
He couldn't afford to lose Apokolips. Without it, conquering Earth would become far more difficult so this to him was a "strategic retreat " instead of him running for his life.
Back on the shattered surface, Max stood still.
A massive swarm of Paradooms surged toward him from all directions, screeching as they closed in. He didn't even look at them.
Instead, he closed his eyes and focused all his chakra, ki and haki into his next attack.
Even the raging aura around his body collapsed, compressing into a single point which was his right fist then the ground beneath him buckled.
Boom!
Max launched forward like a bullet, the sheer force of his movement blasting the incoming Paradooms away before they could even reach him. Space distorted slightly as he crossed the distance in an instant.
Darkseid's instincts screamed as he turned just in time and raised both arms to block.
Boooooooooom!!!!
The collision was catastrophic,Darkseid's arms shattered on impact, breaking apart under the force of the blow. But the attack didn't stop there. It carried through his body, all that condensed power driving straight into his core.
For a brief second, there was no visible damage.
Then,a violent rupture exploded out from his back.
A cavernous hole was blown clean through his torso, blood spilling out into the vacuum of space as Darkseid's eyes widened in shock.
The force sent him hurtling away down towards Earth.
He tore through the atmosphere like a falling meteor and crashed into the Sahara Desert.
BOOOOOOM!!
Sand erupted in every direction, forming a massive crater on impact as shockwaves rippled outward across the barren landscape.
End of Chapter
You can read advanced chapters at patreon.com/darker knight
Chapter 30:Kamehameha
Chapter 31:A Dark Day
Chapter 32:A Final Reunion