Shane's taunt landed amid Apokolips's blood-red dust, and it reached Desaad's ears with equal clarity.
Deep within Apokolips, in a hidden space buried a thousand yards beneath an iron fortress.
A gaunt, gray-skinned figure in a dark red robe stared fixedly at the screen, his withered cheeks twisted into a vicious grimace.
He was Desaad, Darkseid's chief scientist. Since he disliked fighting, he spent most of his time stationed on Apokolips, much like the Justice League's Cyborg standing watch at the Watchtower.
His narrow, wrinkled eyes were fixed on the screen before him. On it, the long-haired warrior of an unknown race stood with his arms spread wide, bathed in dark green blood.
Titan, the Dark Elite Corps warrior who had been the first to step forward and fight, had already become debris strewn across the ground.
Shane turned to look at the flesh-colored giant who had stepped forward second, his gaze seemingly casually sweeping over the rock impact drills that had replaced the giant's arms.
"Still one-on-one? You could all come at me together. While you're at it, send down those Parademons in the sky too."
He raised his foot, casually crushed the green giant's skull, then lightly kicked a clump of dark green brains toward the flesh-colored giant.
"See? If you gang up on me, I might not have time to specifically desecrate every corpse after killing it."
"You damned alien scum! Who the hell are you?!"
Desaad's voice was shrill and raspy as it echoed through the underground fortress.
"Brola, kill him now! I'll seize his soul and torment it for eternity!"
As Desaad issued his order to the second warrior, his fingers flew across the control console before him.
He tried to identify the mysterious man by scanning the characteristics of the Force Field surrounding his