King of Apokolips!

Apokolips.

A world without light.

Beneath its blood-red sky lay an eternal abyss filled with towering pillars of fire. Wails and screams were its only symphony; despair and pain were its only air.

Countless creatures called Parademons beat their rotting wings, circling and fighting in the scorching currents like the lowliest details in a painting of Hell.

And at the center of it all, upon a Throne forged from black metal and wailing bones, sat an immense, immovable figure.

Darkseid.

He sat perfectly still, without even drawing breath, yet the laws of Apokolips froze around him.

His existence was the sole meaning of this Hell.

Below the Throne, his two closest servants lay prostrate: DeSaad, wrinkled and corpse-like, and Granny Goodness, hideous and clutching an instrument of torture. Neither dared raise their head.

Then, amid the stillness that had endured for ten thousand years, the space before the Throne suddenly warped without warning.

A circular opening glowing with an eerie red light appeared out of nowhere.

A Boom Tube.

DeSaad and Granny Goodness had long since grown used to the sight. Their lord conquering or destroying another lesser civilization was routine.

This time, however, neither the victorious Steppenwolf nor a captive alien god emerged from the passage.

Only an unremarkable metal container the size of a palm fell out and rolled to Darkseid's feet.

Then the Boom Tube closed on its own.

DeSaad froze. Granny Goodness looked puzzled too.

Who?

Who had the nerve to throw something onto Apokolips? Right before the great Dark Lord's Throne, no less?

At last, Darkseid stirred.

His eyes, unchanging for millennia and still as a statue's, slowly lowered to the tiny container.

There was no anger on his face, only the absolute indifference of someone watching an ant perform.

The next moment, the container