Crack.
A sharp crack rang out.
Darkseid crushed the throne's armrest into powder.
Dust sifted down between his fingers.
"All fleets, change course."
Darkseid rose.
His massive silhouette blocked out every light on the bridge.
"Target: Sector 2814, Earth."
His icy gaze swept over the dark elites kneeling below him.
"Relay my decree."
"Scorched-earth purification."
"Aside from the fragments of the Anti-Life Equation, I don't want to see anything on that planet still breathing."
"As for that mortal..."
Darkseid's lips curved into a cruel grin.
"Bring him before me alive."
"I will strip out his soul myself and see what secrets lie within."
Gotham, the One God Temple.
The Greenhouse on the top floor had been fully restored. Beyond its vast transparent dome, ceaseless thunderclouds churned, tainted by dark red energy.
A dark gold throne stood at the very center of the Greenhouse.
Barefoot, Chu Men lounged against its broad backrest, wearing nothing but a loose robe.
At his feet, Pamela's supple body lay against the cold marble tiles.
Green vines crept along her spine, carefully kneading Chu Men's calves.
Like a tamed cat, Selina knelt quietly on the other side of the throne.
In the center of the hall stood thirty-one former Green Lantern warriors.
Now dressed in matching black uniforms branded with dark red marks on their chests, they knelt on one knee in perfect unison.
Their eyes were hollow and lifeless, their faces devoid of any emotion belonging to a self.
Hal Jordan knelt at the front of the group.
His eyes, once always gleaming with defiance and confidence, now held only a bottomless dark red.
He held the Green Lantern Ring, likewise tainted by dark red energy, in both hands and raised it high above his head, as though offering his sovereign everything he had.