Dark Multiverse.........
Metropolis........... Abandoned Underground Sewer system.
Plop. Plop. Plop.......
Droplets of murky water dripped from the rusty bent pipe onto the sewer floor. The ripples that formed on the water surface were the only form of disturbance that could be found in these abandoned tunnels.
The rotten, disgusting stench that could make even the foulest smelling man wretch in disgust, permeated the air.
With no entry of light, the darkness gave off a ghastly atmosphere alongside as in the distance, the only inhabitants of these areas, the rats, feasted on a nearby corpse soaked in sewer water.
The disgusting water was stained with bloody fluids, as that wasn't the only corpse within the vicinity.......
Boom!
Just as the rats were feasting, the roof above their heads suddenly imploded, and the space inside began to be filled with rocks and debris. The startled night creatures scattered in all directions as they avoided getting submerged under stone.
A ray of light shone into the tunnel but was quickly covered up as two figures swooped down from the newly made entrance, landing on the stone rubble with their feet.
Following which, they dashed forward without regard for the sewer water and made a mad run for their lives.
Large ripples immediately appeared on the water surface as two pairs of feet rushed forward at phenomenal speed. The dark cloaks that covered their bodies made it difficult to discern their identities as their bodies and faces were shrouded in darkness.
“Damnit. It failed”. A young voice cursed loudly in an anxious voice.
“I know. But we can't worry about that right now”. The other sounded old, and spoke calmly with a more mature tone.
“Where exactly are we?”
“Hold on a sec”. Their running figures came to a halt as the former raised his right arm a tapped. A hologram appeared, ho wrong above his arm while illuminating his face in the process.
Dark hair, blue eyes, strong build and a green mask on his face. Damian Wayne solemnly operated the hologram and a central map appeared.
“Found it. The eastside of Metropolis's underground network”.
“Then give us exit points, Robin”. Taking off the cloak on his head, Slade uttered gloomily. His white hair had been shaved from all directions, leaving only a small Mohawk in the center that barely exceeded five centimeters in height.
As it was no longer needed, the dark cloak was released from his grip and fell into the sewer water slightly behind him.
The iconic dark and orange armor made of Promethium with two katanas on the back and various weapons on all sides gave off an intimidating aura when fixed on his tall frame.
These two were the Slade Wilson and Damian Wayne of Earth -1.
“Give me a minute here .......”. Damian told a look at Slade's ugly face and responded apathetically. He began to zoom in on the schematics of the Metropolis sewer system.
“Here it is. This path leads to the underdeveloped side of the city….”. Pointing to a place close to a certain area that wasn't connected to the rest of the sewer system.
“There's a drainage pipe around here that leads to a point on the outskirts, that's our exit .....”.
At that moment, a figure suddenly dropped from the open hole they made into the tunnels. Armed in modern body armor, his feet landed on the rubble, and he quickly aimed the laser blaster in his hands at the duo, firing without hesitation.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
“Damn! They're here”. Seeing this, Deathstroke made his move. Shifting his body, he raised his right leg and kicked the boy wonder our of the way to dodge the first two blasts while drawing his metal blade to defend against the third.
Clank! The collision against metal rang out in the underground space.
With his attacks blocked, the armed man in a mask didn't relent and opened continuous fire.
“I had that”. Seeing Deathstroke had pushed him out of the way, Robin uttered with obvious anger.
“Sure … Whatever kid”. Ignoring the boy wonder, Slade used his blade to defend with one hand while pulling out his gun in the other.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots whizzed right at the enemy, one penetrating the left arm holding the weapon and the other penetrating the neck.
Blood spilled, and the masked man fell backwards. However, what followed with his death let both man and child know that this was far from the end.
Screech!
A large demonic looking figure with four red eyes and charred rocky skin fell from the ceiling. The two wings on its back fluttering as it let out a demonic screech akin to a Clarion call.
It wasn't alone, as two more of its kind followed into the hole afterward. There bloodthirsty eyes locked on the two fleshy figures in the distance.
Parademons!
“Well what are you waiting for, an invitation? Lead the way.......”. Seeing Parademons appear, Slade turned to the boy wonder only to find that Damian had already gotten a head start and was running deeper into the tunnels without even bothering to alert him.
“Fuck!”
And so, the sound of gunshots rang out within the underground sewers.
Robin and Deathstroke ran for their lives, as fast as their two legs could carry them, while under the pursuit of Parademons.
“This is Robin to Batman, come in Batman”.
Boom! The first thing that came into his ears as soon as he pressed the comms was the sound of an explosion.
Followed by the sound of something collapsing and the fierce fighting on the other end.
The clashes that sounded so loud and frequent alongside the occasional groan made his young face sink.
“Batman are you there? Respond”.
“Damien report..... Argh!” The pained roar went straight through his ears, frightening the boy wonder.
“Batman? Are you ok?” He asked in a tone full of worry and fear.
“..... It…. Damien…forget me. What's your status?” A gruff voice called out from the other end of the comms that sounded uttered through gritted teeth.
Hearing the pain within Bruce's tone as he said those words, Damien clenched his fist, knowing that Bruce was in a serious dilemma right now.
He knew what Bruce wanted to hear. What he needed to hear, which made the feeling within him worsen all the more.
“.. … We were wrong. The whole thing was a setup. He knew we were coming….”. Robin uttered while shouting at Deathstroke behind him.
“Turn left!”
“Right!” Slade who was covering up the rear, replied and followed left. As the turn made a bend, Damian turned around and threw dozens of Birdarangs around the walls of the turning point.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
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The beeping sounds got more frequent and just as he Parademons passed by.
Boom! The Batarangs exploded, blowing up the Parademons while sealing the entrance with rocky debris.
Seeing this, both turned around and continued to run.
“The mission failed. I repeat, Operation: Fate was unsuccessful. Black Canary and Zatanna are dead. We're headed to the closest exit point. We can regroup and.......”.
“No Damien.......”. The gruff voice came once again from the other end.
“..... Get out of here. Leave…. Run….”.
“No way”. The boy wonder refused without hesitation.
“You can escape. Find a way to get away from him….”.
“We can't Damien. Not this time.....”. Robin knew this. This time, they had staked it all on this very plan. Once thy failed, the possibility of the others making it back was infinitely close to zero.
He knew this..... But when the plan actually failed, he was unwilling to accept it.
“Ou… Sh… I….”. At that moment, the comms began to fritz.
“Batman?”
“Are ..... ou.. read... don't….”.
“Batman!” He called out again but this time but no one responded.
“Shit! The comms are down”.
Boom! At that moment, the whole city shook wildly, casing both their expressions to change drastically.
“We have to save them”. Damien said out loud as they advanced.
Boom!
This time, the explosion wasn't affecting the entire city but the space behind them.
The rubble that previously blocked the route behind them was blasted apart, following which, dozens of Parademons rushed forwards with their fluttering wings
'Here they come again'.
As the Parademons approached, the running Robin suddenly leaped upward and twisted. His hands reached into his utility belt and his body immediately made a turn midair.
Held firmly within the grasp of his fingers were six Birdarangs, three on each hand.
A low tuning sound emerged as a red light appeared on the weapons.
One, two, three...... With a quick sweep of his gaze, his mind roughly captured the positions of the nearest monsters approaching.
Then, he flicked his wrists and the explosive weapons were thrown out, lacing everything precisely to his heavily trained instinct. The rest was left to luck.
The sound of six weapons tore through the air as they all moved forward and flew in different directions.
Rarghhhhh..... Squelch
Squelch!
Squelch!
Squelch!
Four of the accurately hit the respective targets on their heads. Unfortunately, he threw six of them.
Boom! A series of explosions followed right after as the Birdarangs all exploded but the ones that missed weren't of any threat.
Rushing past the weapons, two Parademons rushed towards Damien, quickly entangling him and forcing him to the ground.
“Kid! ....... Ugh!” Deathstroke who was about to intervene quickly found himself busy as six more rushed towards his direction.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Multiple shots were released and two of them impacted the skull of two Parademons. The others either dodged or blocked and rushed towards him unabated.
Drawing his sword, the blade similarly made of Promethium metal gave off a cold gleam as he slashed out.
Squelch! A Parademon was cut in half.
Seeing the other three approaching, he leaned towards the side wall of the tunnel, placed his leg against the wall and used force to leap into the air, narrowly dodging their attacks.
While midair, he struck out with his sword again and a second later, his boots landed back in the sewer water.
Splash!
A severed head fell into the sewer water, the body making another splash right after.
“Arghh!” At that moment, Damien who struggled to hold off two big ugly monsters with his acrobatic teenage frame was bitten on the shoulder.
“Get off him”. A sharp sword was thrown towards their direction with great force. The biting Parademon had its body pierced through by Slade's Katana.
Pushed away by the inertia, the body of the monster was flung to the side, leaving Damien with only one to deal with.
Without turning around, Deathstroke drew the second Promethium katana from its sheet on his back, dodged the attack coming towards him and slashed again.
Screech!
This time, he only managed to cut an arm off. The monster wailed but did not retreat, instead it attacked more ferociously and came upon him.
Deathstroke raised his gun, about to fire, but the Parademon's relentless attack was one step quicker.
The gun in his was knocked into the sewer water, completely disappearing from his sight.
“Shit!”
Under its strong forward momentum, Slade was pushed down onto the floor, his Promethium suit making a splash with it.
A terrible stench assaulted the middle-aged man on his face as the Parademon's sharp teeth continuously attempted to chomp his head off at close proximity.
Seeing this, Deathstroke twisted his body slightly pushing the monster with only one arm to the side. Then freeing his other hand, he threw a punch with as much strength as he could muster, knocking the monster away.
However...... He had barely regained himself when he saw a shadow flash right before his eyes.
Squelch!
“Arghhhhh!” Blood splattered on the nearby water as four claw marks appeared on the right side of Slade's face. The fourth Parademon attacked as soon as he knocked the last one aside and struck without warning. The sharp claws immediately marked his face with blood before following up with another attack.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal resounded as Slade barely blocked relying on nothing but basic instinct to fight his disorientation.
“Rarh!” At that moment, Damian let out a low roar of anger. Sharp blades emerged from the side of his gauntlet which was defending against his attacker.
Squelch! He quickly pushed the blades into he Parademons skull, pulled it out and pierced it, repeated the same action twice more before pushing the corpse with a shattered brain off him.
Reaching into his utility belt, he drew another Birdarang and threw it at Slade's direction.
Squelch! The monster attacking him was killed, following which, Slade freed the hand that held his katana ad stabbed towards the left without hesitation.
The weapon penetrated the chest of the last Parademon he knocked aside, preventing it from making a follow-up attack.
Silence once again returned to the underground sewers as the last Parademon fell.
“Ha..... Ha …. Ha…. Arg!” Damian let out heavy pants before wincing in pain as he moved his shoulder slightly.
“Hurts doesn't it.....”. Slade's voice came to his ears.
Damian's face suddenly hardened as he tried to put on a tough guy expression.
“It's just a little bite, I've been through worse…". Turning to look at Slade, his voice ceased and mouth opened wide.
“What?” Feeling his gaze fixed on him, Deathstroke didn't care and showed a wild smirk. “Haven't seen someone lose an eye before?”
The left eye, that was Deathstroke's only ocular pupil that still retained vision. The other had been scrapped years ago, and he basically covered it up with an eye patch.
Seeing the blood dripping down his face and the eye that was practically gouged out by the Parademons claw, the boy wonder didn't know what to say.
He stood up, came to his side and helped him up with Slade's hand resting over his shoulder.
“..... You said we had to save them…". At that moment, Slade turned his head to Damian and muttered.
“I .....”.
Screech.
The sound of loud roars coming from the direction they just came from fell into their ears, interrupting what Robin was about to say.
“.... But right now…. Who's gonna save us?”
The enemies were coming, and Damian's shoulder was injured. Worst of all, Deathstroke lost his only eye and his mobility, hence greatly affected.
They were in a dilemma.
Seeing this, Damian gritted his teeth and placed his fingers on the intercom.
“Batman, are you there?”
Silence. They both waited but received no reply.
“Batman are you there? Respond”.
“.....”. Still silence.
Immediately, both their faces changed from bad to worse.
“Batman….”.
.........
Aboveground.......
Metropolis.......
“Batman.......... Batman...... Bruce are you there? ............ Bruceeeee!"
The scream rang out in his ear, but Batman did not respond. With both knees on the floor, blood rushed out from the side of the The Dark Knight's lips as he stared above him with a solemn expression.
Eyes radiating with nothing but pure hate and anger and in his hands, a Kryptonite spear.
“Well Bruce.....”. The calm male voice coming from above made his hand on the spear tighten even more.
With his figure that seemed to be an eternal shadow over Bruce Wayne, he floated in the air with his cape billowing in the wind.
The awe-inspiring red and blue super suit and the classic “S” symbol on the chest representing the symbol of the House Of El, he folded his arms and looked at Bruce Wayne with glowing red eyes and a strong sense of indifference, as if looking at an ant.
And unlike his positive earth counterparts, his expression wasn't the slightest bit easygoing.
“...... Aren't you gonna answer?”
Here and now ....... Superman and Batman seemingly made their final stand.