Darkseid's True Colors

"Wait, Beckett, where are you going?"

"Take back the Mother Box."

Mera, defeated by Beckett's gaze, finally gave way.

Superman Clark is dead, Darkseid is missing.

Even though his body had just been "revived" by the Nutrient Fluid Mera had given him, Beckett believed that retrieving the three Mother Boxes embedded in the Gate of Apocalypse would be no problem in this state.

That was his hope of going home.

"Wait a minute, Beckett, I have a question for you."

"Just one question."

Mera bit her lip and asked the question that had been buried in her heart ever since she ascended to the throne as Queen of the Sea.

"You approached me in the first place, it wasn't because of the Mother Box, was it?"

Mera didn't know what Beckett wanted the Mother Box for, but she did know that this question had been on her mind for a long time.

From the moment Beckett's sudden appearance ruined her coronation ceremony, this question had been weighing on her mind, but a series of subsequent events prevented Mera from ever having the chance to ask it.

Now, the opportunity has arrived.

With everything out of her way, she had ample time and an excellent opportunity to ask the question.

She knew that asking this question now was somewhat inappropriate, and even a bit ridiculous and pointless, but she still followed her heart and asked it anyway.

Beckett's unconscious cry of "Hela" was the most important reason that prompted her to make this decision, without exception.

"..." Beckett stopped and turned his head, glancing at Mera behind him out of the corner of his eye.

"No."

After a long while, the byte that Beckett spat out brought a smile to Mera's face.

"It's because of the Mother Box."

Mera's smile froze instantly, "What did you say?"

"Woz said you are the guardian of the Mother Box." Beckett tiptoed and flew towards Gotham without looking back.

Mera stood frozen in place, staring blankly at Beckett's cold, departing figure.

Barry Allen, feeling as if he had witnessed a breakup, stood amidst the ruins behind Mera, scratching his head and feeling awkward no matter how he stood.

Barry Allen was well aware of Mera's feelings for Beckett over the past three days, but the current outcome for the two was something Barry never expected.

Shouldn't they embrace each other, weep, and live happily ever after?

That's how it's always portrayed on TV.

And then there's Hela, Beckett mentioned earlier. Barry Allen had heard Bruce Wayne say that she was a Norse goddess who supposedly died in Twilight of the Gods.

What era are we living in? Hela's grave must be overgrown with weeds by now, so why is Beckett still thinking about her?

Just because Hela is the Goddess of Death?

Mera, being the Queen of the Sea, is no less impressive.

"Um, Mera, I think—"

"Don't try to comfort me, Barry. I already have an answer in my heart, I just wanted to confirm it with him."

Mera, having composed herself, turned around, and the Golden Trident that had been stuck to the side returned to her hand at her command.

She had been mentally prepared for this for a long time.

It's been around for a while.

Moreover, Beckett's earlier answer also gave Mera another message, another message that made her happy.

"Let's go, let's break down that Gate of Apocalypse, and then wait until Beckett has taken down all three Mother Boxes."

Mera didn't know where Darkseid had gone, but she did know that as long as the Gate of Apocalypse was destroyed, the forces of the Apocalypse Legion, which were wreaking havoc all over the world, would never be replenished.

The weapons left behind by Bruce Wayne are enough to help the remaining humans annihilate those terrifying Parademons.

Especially with Barry Allen, the speedster, still alive.

"Clear."

Seeing that Mera herself said she was fine, Barry Allen didn't say anything more and followed Mera onto the water shuttle bus.

Meanwhile, in mid-air.

Back on the edge of the bracelet on Beckett's wrist, sat a miniature blue robot cat.

"You shouldn't say that, Your His Highness Beckett."

Woz scratched his head, looking somewhat troubled.

When Mera asked that question, Woz actually gave Beckett the answer, but to its surprise, Beckett did not answer Mera's question according to the answer it had given.

"Everything between Mera and me was arranged by you, Woz."

Whoosh!

Beckett's words made Woz, who was sitting on the bracelet swinging his short legs, stand up straight and stammer in denial, "No... no."

Woz still retains its last bit of stubbornness.

"Okay, it was me." Under Beckett's death stare, Woz couldn't take it anymore and timidly lowered his head to admit his mistake.

Why do this?

Beckett asked with a cold expression.

"You need comfort, Your His Highness Beckett," Woz confessed truthfully, having been seen through.

The plan to use the Mother Box to open a portal to the Multiverse and return home has the potential to fail. For Beckett's mental health, Woz must plan ahead and ensure that there is someone in the world who can heal the wounds in Beckett's heart after the plan fails.

Mera is the right choice.

Otherwise, given Beckett's personality, he could easily get stuck in a rut and never recover if the plan failed.

"Don't do so many unnecessary things in the future. I won't like anyone." Beckett snorted and headed straight for the Gate of Apocalypse above Gotham.

"And you were calling Hela's name while you were unconscious... Didn't you remain silent for a while when Mera asked you about it earlier...?"

Shrinking his almost non-existent neck, the miniature Doraemon Woz muttered softly.

In Woz's view, based on his understanding of Beckett, if he didn't have feelings for Mera, he wouldn't have hesitated for so long before answering the question.

He wouldn't say Mera that he helped her obtain the Golden Trident.

The fact that Beckett could say that shows that he had already compared Mera to a woman he knew.

Of all the people Beckett knew, the only two who were truly independent, self-reliant, and still alive were Hela and Proxima Midnight.

"What did you say?" Beckett flew to the bronze-colored gate of the Apocalypse and asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No! It's nothing, Your His Highness Beckett!"

Woz stood at attention for a moment, then quickly returned to the bracelet's storage space.

"Beckett!"

"One last question!"

"What do you need the Mother Box for?!"

"Answer me, please!"

On the ground, Mera, holding the Golden Trident, looked up and shouted.

"...go home."

"I should have told you I was going back."

"Go back, kill Odin, and destroy Asgard."

Beckett glanced at the woman on the ground, then looked away.

Using the method shown on the screen by Woz, the three Mother Boxes on the Gate of Apocalypse were disassembled one by one.

"Environmental testing completed; no dangerous energy sources were found."

"Initiate adjustment of Mother Box energy output."

"The Mother Box's energy output has been adjusted and is now calibrating the original cosmic coordinates."

"The cosmic coordinates have been calibrated, Your His Highness Beckett. Please use your energy to detonate the three Mother Boxes." Woz, now focused on his task, deployed eight Mechanical Arms behind him, continuously adjusting the three Mother Boxes in front of Beckett.

"Oh? So you come from this universe."

Suddenly, a deep, hoarse voice came from behind the Gate of Apocalypse, and Beckett's expression changed drastically!

[What?!]

Darkseid!

[When?!]

"This is really a nice place. I'm curious how many people like you are there that I can use."

Boom!!

A beam of light that stretched across the sky suddenly struck Beckett down from the air. The speed was so fast that even Woz couldn't react in time. The eight Mechanical Arms on his back shattered instantly, and his round body rolled to the ground.

A figure with his hands behind his back slowly emerged from the pillar of light, the three Mother Boxes spinning in front of him...

Darkseid, the ferocious Multiverse invader and the incomparably powerful Lord of Apokolips Darkseid!

Thank you to [Beautiful Meixi], [The Vegetable Garden Selling Cabbage], [Book Friend 20180517004909031], [Luochen329], [Promise Me Not to Love Me Anymore], and [I Want to Keep a Low Profile] for their generous donations!

P. S.: I'm serious about changing the title. That idiot bought Infinity Stones online yesterday and is now looking for someone to make the Infinity Gauntlet ... saying it's a birthday present for me in a little over a month... so I desperately need to change the book title before my birthday arrives...

Trying to take advantage of Dad? Pshaw!

Impossible!