"They were saved because you would use them as slaves. You manipulated everything, and it was not for any greater or nobler purpose."
She was slightly out of breath. Maintaining her levitation was slowly draining her Power Ring's energy. She might have only one chance to attack, and flying would give her greater speed. Hopefully, enough that Darkseid could not react.
Darkseid brought out one hand from behind his back and pointed at her head. "Humanity is a shallow and crude race. Your qualities are like those of other humans: numerous and inferior. Except for one—courage. Even now, even before me, you have not fled. You were once a girl afraid to leave her room, yet now you can look me in the eye. Very good."
"Huff, huff."
Jessica was somewhat nervous, breathing heavily. Though she stared straight into Darkseid's eyes, it was far from easy.
"Even when you have reached the end of the road, you still refuse to surrender. Is it foolish? Yes. But I admire it. I hope you can become one of the New Gods, though there was no place for you in my original plan." Darkseid turned slightly, showing her the three transformed figures behind him—Cyborg and the others. "Encoding, flame, faith—these are the rules that will exist in my new universe, representing technology, energy, and doctrine. There was no place for you, but now I think one more New God representing steadfastness would not be bad."
He revealed a kindly smile, bent down, and extended his hand toward Jessica.
"As long as you say the word humans use to express agreement, you may live."
"Ptooey!"
Jessica neither surrendered nor said the "yes" Darkseid wanted to hear. As she voiced her refusal, she gathered all her remaining energy and threw a punch at Darkseid.
With