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***
«With the portals destroyed, all we have to do is go on the full offensive," Peter said into the darkness, and the walls flashed with a menacing glow.
"The three main elevators leading to Gotham are fully ready to activate. The Earthlings are doomed to defeat."
***
Will jerked sharply off the ground, flying over the crowd of para-demons, and closed his eyes, focusing on the Sphere of Sensation. A moment, and the skillful sensorics told him that he was surrounded by... Over two hundred enemies, and only a fraction were flying at him. Another thousand or so were in the distance and gradually moving away, like a swarm of ants spreading out into positions. Their dislocation hinted at hidden plans of the enemies that Will had not yet realized.
At that moment, a calm, soulless voice cuts through his focused mind:
"According to my calculations, the nature of your movements and actions match the behavioral pattern of Protocol I-1, Bright Flash. Allow me to welcome you, Master Minato. It is a pleasure to be under your careful and undoubtedly skillful control. As you are currently engaged in mortal combat with a superior number of enemies, allow me to provide you with the information I've been able to ascertain during your time here."
«Now's not really the time..." he muttered, dodging a flying demon.
BOOM. A bolt of lightning struck the air, tearing the space apart, and a dozen Para-demons slammed into the wall, shattering. Willard Light ran a finger over his sweaty lips in cold concentration.
"According to my analysis, the para-demon army will soon escape through the three main platforms that were discovered due to Mistress Vanessa's analysis..."
"Now I see why that para-demon was so calm. He had a backup plan," Minato thought.
"With the loss of the portals, the enemy has most likely decided to concentrate their efforts on inflicting maximum damage. Over a hundred thousand innocent citizens of Gotham City may die as a result of this attack. I daresay the enemy has anticipated this outcome and is preparing a contingency plan. According to the reports provided, I suggest that you leave enemy territory and join the Justice League on the surface to stop the attack on Gotham City. Otherwise, you risk dying in an unequal battle. Given your capabilities, you will only need to use the Thunder God mark to escape."
«Are you suggesting sacrificing people? - he said.
"Unfortunately, casualties are inevitable. The enemy had prepared for an attack and knew we could thwart him, Master Minato. Despite the gravity of the decision, the option I have proposed will result in the fewest casualties."
Minato sighed heavily as the para-demons around him froze and landed on the ground. Karen stepped forward, leaving the army of para-demons behind her, and opened her palm towards Willard Light.
«You are surrounded, you are weakened, and yet you still resist. It's like the behavior of a cornered rat who still doesn't realize the doom of his situation. You've proven yourself, Willard Light, but further resistance will get you nowhere. Give it up.
A slight smile appeared on Will's lips, which Karen didn't understand at all. She frowned.
«What's so funny? Did I hit you so hard that you lost your ability to think straight?
«Platforms," Will said.
«Platforms? What does that mean? - Karen arched an eyebrow in surprise, beginning to seriously suspect that she'd really hit Willard Light over the head.
But it was all her game. Even if Willard Light had indeed hit his head hard, Karen was seriously stressed. As the commander of the Apocalypse Army, she knew about the existence of the platforms leading to Gotham, after all, they were part of the main plan to invade Earth. But how did Willard Light, who was completely uninvolved in their plans, know about them?
"If he knows about the platforms, there's no way I can let him go," she thought.
«Don't even think about destroying the platforms, Willard Light. In less than ten minutes, Gotham City will be on fire, and there's nothing you can do about it.
Upon catching Karen's answer, Super AI-Liberty-Wan immediately realized what her master was getting at:
"Master, do you really expect to destroy all the platforms before the Apocalypse reaches Gotham? I'm sorry to say it, but it's impossible. The capacity of the base exceeds the standard of average metal fabrication plants, and can be over five thousand square meters. Given your abilities, the distance, and the number of enemies present, a clash would presumably be fatal. In addition, the main difficulty is the structure of the enemy's underground base. According to my analysis, the layout features a network of restricted corridors and built-in mechanisms that contain hidden traps"
«I propose a little wager," he said.
"You intrigue me, Master Minato."
«Parry? - Karen asked.
Several unobvious reasons why Karen hadn't attacked Willard Light until now were her fear of his abilities that jeopardized Apocalypse's plans. The Thunder God Tag - posed not only a greater threat, but also allowed Willard to escape at any moment and initiate the League into their plans, and leaving Karen herself with nothing. Not only could Willard escape at any moment, but he could attack vulnerabilities in the Apocalypse Army's position. But what Karen feared most of all was that if she missed him now, there would never be another moment to get rid of him.
To stop Willard from escaping, Karen decided to use every method available. During the time Willard was engrossed in the battle with the para-demons and talking to her as if he were thinking hard, Karen ordered the para-demons to capture the unconscious Raven and Beast Boy and hold them hostage.
Finally, when the winged demons holding the unconscious Raven and Beast Boy appeared from the ring of para-demons surrounding Willard, Karen pointed at them with the palm of her hand.
«Give up your attempts to resist the inevitable, Willard Light. Darkseid is the true Ruler of the Apocalypse and the only one in the universe who is worthy to rule over all. Neither the Justice League nor the gods themselves can stop him. Stop delaying the inevitable and surrender, then you will at least have a chance to serve the Great Darkseid. Or, if you are foolish enough to defy the Apocalypse, your friends will die first, and you will follow.
Karen grabbed Beast Boy by the chin with two fingers, and visibly squeezed his skull so that his unconscious face reflected intense pain.
"The strength of those fingers is enough to turn a boulder into sand. She's not kidding," Will cast a frown at Raven and Beast Boy, and ruffled his own hair in a tired gesture.
"Master Minato?" interjected Liberty-wan.
«I guess I really don't have a choice," he said, slowly raising his hands.
Both Karen and the para-demons holding Raven and Beast Boy at that moment flinched, but seeing that Willard Light had surrendered, one of the demons squeezed Raven's neck with a nasty grin and reached for her face with his fangs.
«Hey... one more move and there won't be a trace of your head left," Will said, giving the para-demon an icy stare.
«I don't think we should provoke our hero too much," Karen grinned, ordering the para-demon to retreat with a wave of her hand.
The Para-demon grimaced, and obediently retracted his tongue back. At that moment, however, Karen stood smugly in front of Willard, almost absentmindedly, and held out her hand to him as if to shake. But the bad intentions in her eyes hinted at something else. As luck would have it, the situation was made worse by the fact that there was a rumbling in the hallway. Another part of the para-demon army flew out of the corridor, throwing the hero torn in two to the floor and dropping two more who must have managed to sneak in but had no success. The blood from their bodies slowly dripped down to the feet of Willard Light and Karen. Karen turned around laughingly, arching an eyebrow as if she'd seen something funny, and shrugged, glaring at Will, "Never mind, it doesn't mean anything."
«You know... you're so close, literally at my fingertips, that I can reach you at any moment," Karen ran her fingers along Will's cheek, looking up and down at him. The difference irritated her proud disposition. Even if you want to escape with your boastful technique, I'll kill you first. I guess I was kidding after all. Kill the hostages.
Karen's fist flew directly within a few centimeters of Willard Light's nose, grazing his skin in a way that wiped away to blood.
«I'm impressed with your resourcefulness," he said.
«Tz... annoying, why didn't you just die? - Karen shouted irritably as Light's Willard went behind her back with a lightning jerk. - You won't!
Spinning around in place, Karen threw a crushing backfist behind her back, which Will dodged by throwing his upper body backwards as if in limbo, only at this point he was surrounded by countless enemies who would never have let him get out of his unfortunate bent posture.
"Too unpredictable moves," Karen thought raspily, once again trying to catch Willard Light, who was literally circling her nose.
Para-demons were already on their way to intercept Willard. The enemies jumped at him from all sides, leaving no chance of escape, except his body was covered in a blinding flash of lightning, blinding them. The first para-demon that flew up was immediately stopped by a kick to the shoulder, and then Light used it as a springboard for a lightning-fast backflip. Flying over Karen's shoulder, he dodged her blow with a twirl as Karen's wide-eyed attempt to intercept him once again failed.
Karen immediately realized that Willard Light's goal was to rescue Beast Boy and Raven from the hands of the para-demons.
«Even now caring about others? - Karen clenched her fist in annoyance.
Letting the hostages go meant letting Willard Light go, too. Karen rushed after him, sparing no effort, nor the hovering para-demons, who simply couldn't keep up with Willard's speed and only got in the way as obstacles floated in the air. Breaking through them, Karen left green splashes of blood and torn bodies as she reached out for Willard.
Surrounding Light on all sides, Karen finally had the opportunity to grab him, but a sharp flash before her eyes blinded her, leaving her with nothing.
«He dodged my punch at full acceleration," Karen tsked.
Light appeared behind the backs of the para-demons holding Raven and Beast Boy, and then took them down with a lightning fast leg kick. Flying right back at Karen, they exploded in a noisy explosion caused by the seals that had been placed on them as they attacked.
«I warned you," he said, disappearing in a flash.
Finding herself alone, in the midst of her army, Karen threw her arm out to the side and shouted:
«Get in position! He's not going to get away that easily.
And Willard had indeed returned, only this time it was empty in his hands. Beast Boy and Raven had been moved to safety by the Thunder God Tag.
"He traveled to Raven using the Thunder God Tag. He must have left her before the battle began. Otherwise, I would have had time to intercept him."
«That's what I thought...letting you go is too dangerous," Karen said.
This time he was definitely all alone surrounded by enemies. Will said tiredly:
«Don't worry, Karen. I'm not going anywhere this time, you can attack," he said, holding the kunai out in front of him.
Will cast hurried glances at the three tunnels, one of which Peter had gone into.
"The left one... apparently leads to an uncharted area. The one straight ahead leads to the factory, and the third... leads to countless tunnels with platforms hidden behind them. If we destroy them, the way to Gotham will be cut off. What should I do?"
His body was sore and bruised from the previous fight. A couple of bones might be broken, and there were definitely some serious bruises. Fighting in such a state was a real self-inflicted injury. But if the lives of the villagers were at stake, the Hokage was the only one who could save them from the onslaught of the enemy.
"It's not even a question," he thought, "Time is running out, the number of enemies exceeds a hundred, but their shortcomings are as plain as day. I must properly assess the situation before I act. If I keep this up, sooner or later they'll catch me. The ordinary shunshin here isn't enough to match Karen. At that moment before moving, she would have caught me if it wasn't for the mark of the Thunder God, so I can't continue like this," the Fourth Hokage continued his rapid analysis and closed his eyes in concentration.
There was only one way out. The technique required him to control chakra with filigree control and quick decision-making... No one in the history of shinobi had ever been able to use it as well as the Fourth Hokage.
Karen tsked angrily and waved for the para-demons to attack.
Freezing in place, Minato jumped up with a sharp flash and folded his hands in speed seals.
«No matter how hard you try, there's only one outcome," Karen said.
«I can't lose," he said, opening his palms to his sides in a leap.
Six kunai appeared in front of them, placed in a pointed half-circle. As they vibrated with tension, they flew apart at lightning speed, flying past the hordes of Para-demons and splitting into an infinite number.
«Stop him, whatever he's doing! - Karen shouted.
Para-demons leaped from the ground and rushed at Willard in a roaring horde. But before they could touch him, the multiplied kunai were already embedded in the floor, walls, and floorboards, forming a closed zone of kunai. And in that instant, Willard Light was gone.
A heavy tension hung in the air. The Para-demons and Karen began to look around, not realizing what was happening, until the next moment Karen was slid by a smeared flash that multiplied into dozens, turning into a bright yellow roundel of attacks.
«Rasen Senko Cho Rinbu Kosan Shiki," Willard's voice echoed. (Super Chorus Spiral Flash: Stage Three)
As Karen pushed herself off the floor before lightning slashed across her chest and several flashes flashed in front of her, blurring in her eyes due to the high speed. Turning around sharply, she realized with horror that in an instant, five para-demons behind her had gone down dead.
«It's impossible...
Managing only to flap her eyes, Karen was losing one or two para-demons at a time, and only managing to find Willard Light with her eyes, she immediately lost sight of him before she could even move from one single point, all because...
"He calculates his attacks ahead of time, that fast?" - Karen covered herself in cold sweat.
His stance changed every moment, leaving brief flashes behind you. Each time, he slipped away from Karen at the last moment, leaving no chance for a counterattack. Behind any attempt to intercept his movement, Karen grabbed only air, and meanwhile the ranks of the para-demons under her command were rapidly and unprecedentedly thinning.
«No, no, no, no, no, stop, you piece of shit! - Shouted Karen, slamming into the wall where just moments before he had been.... - No, this isn't going to work. Listen to me! He's interrupting us individually! All units group up and prepare to attack! NOW!
Under Karen's command, the remnants of the para-demons clustered together as one, forming a sort of defensive turtle. Of course, before they could do so, more than a few of their members fell, but at a certain point, the attacks stopped.
"The main difficulty is the fact that I simply cannot see his movements. I don't know how he does it, but if he attacks a cohesive group, I can intercept him at short range. Now that I know his strategy, stopping Willard Light won't...," Karen froze, suddenly noticing a kunai stamped into the floor beneath her feet.
The Kryptonian's superbrain processed information much faster than any human brain. In order to calculate complex mathematical formulas, scientists sometimes had to spend whole days, or even weeks, months, or even years to solve them. For Karen, however, solving the most complex problems was almost as easy and quick as adding two plus two to the smartest people on the planet. Literally a couple of moments, no more, and an unpleasant realization popped into her head. If only she'd had time to notice this one sooner...
"The mark of the God of Thunder is on every kunai!"
At the moment of her thoughts an immediate attack followed, and with eyes wide open Karen prepared to reckon with her inattention.
He was just waiting for the moment she let her guard down.
Willard appeared right in front of her in a bent position to strike, and in his hand was encased a dense sphere that swirled in his hand like a hurricane.
«Don't you dare play with me," she hissed, throwing her arm out to intercept.
... Pavergirl's speed was not much slower than Superman's, and even Willard Light found it difficult to overtake her with enough concentration. Before the razengan touched Karen, it went sideways, past the razengan, and almost reached Willard's neck, but in the next instant it was gone, missing its target... seemingly.
The next instant, an explosion sounded behind Karen's back. And the outgoing pack of para-demons flew right in front of her, crashing dead into the wall.
Karen realized her key mistake. She had lost to him not in strength, nor in numbers, but in the fact that her battle strategy was inherently losing.
"How can it be. I don't believe it. There's nothing I can do! All I can do is watch him destroy my army!"
Helplessly watching as the last ranks of the army fell dead, Karen shook her fist and grinned in pain. Never before had Pavergirl felt so useless and humiliated.
«You bastard, you call yourself a hero after that?! Why don't you attack directly?!!!! - She shouted at the countless corpses and rivers of blood that flooded her feet. All because he was out of her reach, and that made her even angrier.
With a bright flash appearing in front of the scattered corpses, Willard Light exhaled hot steam from his lungs as streams of lightning ran through his body, striking the floors and shattering him to shreds. He lifted a cold glance spitefully at Karen, who was shivering with anger, and focused into position.
«I'm sorry, but all's fair in war.
«You...
In the next instant, Willard Light's palm was right in front of Karen's eyes, and wrapped around her face in a sure grip. Squeezing her face properly, he began to push her forward, but with the Kryptonian's strength, she resisted him as best she could. It was like an all-powerful colossus trying to hold back the push of an ordinary human. Of course, no human on earth was capable of overpowering the Kryptonian in strength, and so Karen steadily planted her feet on the floor and continued to hold her ground, despite the tremendous forward force that was sweeping her away like a hurricane. She grabbed Willard Light's arm in a burst of anger and shouted:
«I will never lose to you, do you hear me? Not in strength," she said.
But Willard Light, or rather whoever had temporarily taken control of his body, barely touched Karen's arm, of course at an unthinkable acceleration. And though she thought that was the end of it, Willard Light only pushed his arm forward a little more... and Karen came off the floor like a fly ball after a Drive.
«But all I need is speed," he threw in.
Slamming her head into the wall, Karen's head crumpled like plasticine and she continued her journey through the thick, concrete wall for many dozens of meters ahead until Willard Light let her go.
Flying out into the cave, which was deep above the ground, Karen crashed into the wall, leaving a several meter dent. Her arms fell in front of her and her legs spread wide apart.
Willard Light trailing arose before her, humbling her with a cold stare.
«You know, it's certainly none of my business, but a woman shouldn't take every punch in the face," he said.
«Shut up.
«Hmmm... Kryptonians, I've never fought someone this strong before. Even a blow like that is nothing more than a light jolt for you. I guess incapacitating you with that last one was the right thing to do," Will said, arching an eyebrow in surprise.
Karen snapped violently from her seat, and clearly sped up, because her fist literally flew near Will's face, leaving drops of blood on her face. His blood.
«Seriously speeding up, I thought you had some trump cards left," he said coldly. - Kryptonians are really impressive.
And Karen's crisp punch crashed into his fist, which Will instantly swept away with a sprawling motion.
«I'll tear you to pieces! - She shouted as she swung at him with all her might.
Will, in turn, dodged the blow with short movements of his legs and body, as if he were doing a restrained dance while, in contrast, an enraged Karen thrashed about, tearing and throwing. She was focused on him alone.
"Master Minato, time is running out. If you don't finish now, you won't make it in time," Liberty-wan said.
"I can't leave her alone," in this state, Karen would definitely kill a bunch of people in pursuit of him.
«All you can do is run away! Take a punch like a real man!
Hearing her request, Will stopped in place and put his hand behind his back as if preparing to intercept her.
«That's not a bad idea, Karen. Let's see how it goes.
Karen lunged forward with a grin, except that Willard Light's body flashed with lightning, and before her fist reached his chin, he had time to draw his arm back in a lightning motion, as if spinning a ball for a throw, and the same hand intercepted Karen's arm as he struck; and with a sharp jerk, he went around her back, put her hand behind her back, and while she was in a moment of "flight," a razengan was twirling in his hand.
"Somewhere around here."
Will pushed a furious Karen away from him and concentrated and jumped back a couple steps.
«I hope you'll forgive me for using your kunai without permission again, Chichi," he said politely.
A kunai appeared in his hand, which he threw upwards.
«I'll kill you!
«You better watch your back.
Before Karen's hand could touch Willard's, his silhouette vanished into thin air and appeared directly above her with a Razengan sliding in for the strike.
«Hirashin: Ni no Dan (Flying God of Thunder: Stage Two).
Rasengan's impact drove Karen straight into the ground and set off a series of aerial explosions that left a crater directly beneath the Kryptonian.
Willard Light bounced back as Karen collapsed exhaustedly to the ground. With that, her body, previously covered in liquid metal, began to gradually change. The metal began to fall away, like stale rust, and soon the young Kryptonian's body was free of its metal restraints.
Willard Light sat down silently beside Karen and took her hand in his.
«Just as I thought.
"Analysis of the underground lab is fifty percent complete. On screen. Are you ready to proceed?"
Willard sighed.
«I have no choice, how much time do I have? - he threw.
"No more than four minutes, Master Minato. I daresay...I won't be able to complete a full scan of the base in time. At some point, you'll have to go in blind."
«How hard it is to be me," he pointed with his head, disappearing in a lightning flash.
The speedy dash generated a crushing airburst, and a bright lightning bolt flew out of the cave, smashing into countless para-demons in its path. But the purpose of this flash was not to kill the enemies, but to prevent them from invading Gotham.
Meandering between dozens of tangled tunnels, Will flew out following the clear plan of movement that Liberty Van had prepared. Without knowing the exact layout and hidden traps, getting there in time was simply impossible. The first platform that overlooked the very center of Gotham City was a few hundred meters away. Upon reaching it, Will saw that it was already going upwards, sending hundreds of para-demons towards the streets of Gotham. But Will, pushing off the walls, caught up to the platform in a matter of moments, punctured it with a Raznengan, and flew upwards, straight towards the countless cluster of enemies.
***
Peter flew out to an additional part of the lab that was hidden behind a passageway they had prepared for an emergency. Overlord knew that the Justice League could have discovered their base much sooner than planned. After all, minds like Lex Luthor and Batman were here. And while Dakrside was skeptical of the former, the Overlord had prepared a special trap for the latter. It was the Overlord's careful preparation that was the reason why Peter, the man responsible for the Apocalypse Invasion of Earth, had come to the hidden part of the base.
«As expected, the Overlord foresaw this outcome," Peter said enthusiastically, stopping by a huge computer that displayed all the information on the upcoming plan.
There were cameras, consoles over plant control, and everything else that was so necessary to realize the plan for the Invasion of Earth. With such preparations, not even the Justice League could stop the inevitable victory of Apocalypse's army.
However...
A red alert popped up on Peter's screen, and the cameras immediately brought up a picture of the first platform that had been destroyed by the unknown invasion.
Peter slammed his fist on the keyboard and swore.
«What happened in there?!
«According to information received, Willard Light infiltrated the platform and caused the collapse of the corridor leading to Gotham.
«Where's Kara?! How did that bitch let this happen! Shit," he sighed coldly, putting his thoughts in order, and chuckled, "Anyway, none of this matters. We have two more major platforms that he'll never have time to destroy.
To confirm his thoughts, Peter displayed the network of corridors that had been specially prepared for heroes like Barry Allen and Superman. The tangled network of corridors and traps was highlighted by more than a dozen red signals.
Peter slapped his chest and bowed. In his mind, the Earthlings had never won.
«I will not dishonor the honor of Mr. Kanto. Neither Superman nor any other League member will pass, just as you taught.
Kanto is one of Darkseid's Elite. A new god. A ruthless killer and butcher specializing in target tracking and elimination. Darkseid's favorite assassin. Also adept at trapping targets in masterfully prepared traps*.
«None of that matters anymore, in three minutes our troops will turn the streets of Gotham into hell," Peter said.
«Sir..." came the fearful voice of a para-demon on the other side of the screen, and Peter turned around unhappily.
«What is it?
«The unknown enemy passed the fifth defense corridor and broke out to the second platform.
«What a load of crap. The traps are still active," Peter glanced at the screen, and one by one the red signals indicating that the traps were working began to disappear....
«But it happened, my Lord... I daresay our enemy is enlightened about the layout of the building's underground structure, otherwise there is no way to explain why he was able to bypass the defenses and disarm our traps so quickly.
«It's impossible. There's no one in the Justice League who can do it that fast...
Peter froze in place at the unpleasant realization. There was actually one person who could disarm all the traps in such a short time, but he wasn't capable of moving as fast as Superman or the Flash. However, this man was the only one in the world who could easily come up with a plan that could lead to such an outcome.
«Batman," Peter hissed hatefully. - No. Batman wasn't on Earth, but he was definitely involved. Did he prepare for our invasion in advance? No, that's impossible. He anticipated something like this when he arrived on that planet. As the Overlord warned, he's a man of detail," Peter said, thinking aloud.
Only one insane thought crossed Peter's mind. It was impossible under normal circumstances, but given the reports on Batman, it seemed that this man's mind went beyond the usual limits of mortals, and was labeled an "anomaly" in the Apocalypse reports for good reason.
And now, thanks to his "training," humanity has a chance to turn the tide offensively.
«My Lord, the second platform... was destroyed.
Peter touched his face in concentration and dug his sharp, crooked claws into his own flesh.
«Close all tunnels leading to the last platform. Our plans have changed.
***
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