Princess' Riches {ON HOLD}

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Meet Your Maker

Going back to Hell was something (Y/n) never thought of doing. In fact, going to Hell twice was quite profound in the sense that no-one simply enters and leaves. But (Y/n) didn't have time to dwell on his thoughts as he made his way down to the Underworld in order to approach the gate to Tartarus. Fortunately, the secret entrance into Tartarus was still accessible for him to sneak in.

(Y/n) immediately recognised the unsettling feeling of being in the humid, morbid domain that was Hell. The experience of migraines made (Y/n) about how much time he had left. He then thought about whether he'd live to see another day or watch his little girl get married. The thought alone brought a tear to (Y/n)'s eye as he quickly wiped it away and made haste in his journey to Hades' castle.

Upon arrival into the castle's courtyard, (Y/n) was met by a loud echo of a scream. He could have sworn it was Faust's, but he had to be certain that the magician was still alive. By descending the castle steps (Y/n) followed the screams until he'd reached the very domain where Hades operated. In the dungeon, the Master of the Underworld himself was present to oversee the eternal torture of Felix Faust.

Neither person noticed (Y/n) until he staggered into sight with his hand clutching the side of his head. Hades was quite surprised to see the (h/c) man returned, whereas Faust saw opportunity to escape his suffering. (Y/n) exerted heavily as he addressed the tall man in black and grey armour whose neutral allegiance leaned in (Y/n)'s favour.

"Well, well, well... (Y/n). What a surprise it is to see you. A surprise, to be sure, but a welcoming one. Surely you come here not for the means of a simple social call?" Hades acknowledged the aching (Y/n).

"H-Hades... I need a, a favour." (Y/n) panted.

The black-haired man raised an eyebrow and removed his attention from his prisoner strapped to a table by his wrists and ankles by rope, in which a wheel cranked on his limbs that very slowly but achingly strained them to its full extent.

"A favour? What, pray tell, would that be?" Hades asked with bated breath.

"I require Faust's help. This... curse he so kindly bestowed onto me. It's..."

"You are dying. I recognise the spell. Do not think yourself lucky to be the one to manipulate soil. While it is possible to reverse this spell, it comes at a great cost."

(Y/n) almost didn't want to ask, but he still asked anyway.

"In order to relinquish your strain, you must perform a ritual in which to sacrifice the pain you feel must also be done so with the thing that which you value most - a heavy price to pay." 

"I-Isn't there another way?" (Y/n) asked in a frail manner. 

Hades simply shook his head in a disapproving manner. He then offered to give him his help should (Y/n) wish to perform the ritual. He was so caught up with the sacrifice that he decided to act and took his leave to console his decision with the queen.

Apokolips

It was time. Time to face off with their greatest enemy a second time and finish him off once and for all. The war Darkseid waged on Earth was unparalleled to the hundreds of thousands of worlds he's conquered. But this time, the Justice League were bringing the fight to him, on his homework of Apokolips. Even with all the help they could muster, it just didn't seem enough.

Thanks to Bruce's and Victor's advanced technology, they were able to transform the team's jet into a fully operational spaceship. Their trip to Apokolips - a cursed volcanic planet billions of light years from Earth - was a fairly long journey. Until they arrived, everybody prepared themselves for the assault. Even Diana made a prayer to Athena that the team would triumph. 

While everyone prepared for the attack, Diana retrieved a photograph of herself and (Y/n) from inside the cleavage of her armour. It was a photo she so valued for missions that took her out of her husband's reach if ever she felt she would never see him or their daughter again. Such a thought made Diana cry to herself when she heard someone acknowledge her silence. Diana looked around and noticed Cyborg approaching. 

"Everything alright?" Victor asked in a soothing voice. 

"Y-Yes, Victor. I'm just... I miss them very much."  Diana nodded and openly wiped a tear from her eye with her index finger. She allowed him to see the picture of herself and (Y/n) in the early stages of their relationship, something she always knew (Y/n) treasured with every fibre of his being. 

The cyborg peered at the photograph and smiled to himself, knowing that Diana had something to look forward to coming home to. 

"Don't worry about them, Diana. It's better you focus on the mission than the danger (Y/n) and Lyta could be in. After all, I'm sure whatever (Y/n)'s up to is far less important than looking after your daughter. He is a capable fighter, after all. So there's no need to worry." 

She made eye contact with him and smiled tenderly when she noticed his face grow pale. His expression changed as if Victor had just seen a ghost. But in this case, it were his system connected all the way to Earth warning him of an invasion in their absence. Through his optics, Victor watched as the most significant landmarks across the entirety of Earth were laid in ruins by Parademons roaming the skies like a swarm of insects. 

"... ictor? VICTOR!" Diana practically screamed in an attempt to get his attention back. "What's the matter? Is it (Y/n)? What about Lyta? Is my family safe?!" 

Out of nowhere, Clark came along and physically pulled Diana away so that he could calm her down. Her eyes swelled with tears in fear of something terrible happening to her family in their absence. Even with all her power, being so many lightyears away from Earth, she had never felt so feeble, so helpless. The black-haired demi-Goddess broke down in her friend's arms and sobbed into his chest whilst he hugged her in (Y/n)'s absence. 

Suddenly, an alarm blared. A red light flashed as the ship's systems malfunctioned, the ship losing control when it reached solid ground not two minutes later. Everybody braced themselves when they disembarked the jet and found themselves completely surrounded by Parademons. but not just the ordinary sort the League knew the weak points of. Parademons mutated by the genetics of Doomsday when its body was stolen during Steppenwolf's visit to Earth. 

Now, they were Paradooms. Darkseid had utilised a trap to spring onto the superheroes and wasted no energy as he simply allowed his modified legion of fear bugs swarm the heroes and slay most while the rest were spared. Superman was injected with Liquid Kryptonite, Batman mind-controlled and subjected to become Darkseid's right-hand man. 

Those who were spared were infused with Apokolips technology and became Darkseid's enforcers. Finally, Darkseid could execute the second part of his plan and invade Earth with no expectation of resistance. Now, there was no stopping him from taking over Earth to get his filthy hands on the Anti-Life Equation. 

Darkseid was coming...