Interlude: The Day the Old Gods Died

Apokalips was advancing on multiple fronts. The New Gods of that dark and misrable realm had set forth to conquer the heavens in the name of Darkseid, the head of their Pantheon of Monstrous Deities. Already many had fallen, the survivors forced to flee into the Dreaming, as not even Darkseid was powerful enough to so easily assail the Endless in their own domains. If not for the Sacrifice of most of the Aesir and Vanir, the situation would be even more dire. Asgard had fallen but it had been the doom of many New Gods of Apokalips and three of Darkseids armies. Only Odin, Thor, and Loki had survived the slaughter to retreat into the Dreaming under the protection of Dream of the Endless. It had been the primary reason that there was still a chance of victory instead of Darkseid having already won.

Unfortunately, it was too late for many other Pantheons. The Annunaki of Sumeria, Jumala of Finland, and Dievas of Eastern Europe had been wiped out in their entirety, while the Tuatha de Denaan of Ireland had been utterly decimated and forced to flee into Faerie to beg for the hospitality of the Fae. Likewise, the remaining Sky Lords of Mexico had all fled to Xibalba, temporarily abandoning their Celestial Realm for the underworld where they could hide behind legions of the dead. The Apu of the Incas and Orishas of Africa had likewise gone into their Underworld Realms, though a few stragglers, such as Dambala, had instead joined up with Odin in the Dreaming.

Others, like the Olympians of Greece, Amatsukami of Japan, Pesedjet of Egypt, and Celestial Bureaucracy of China had remained aloof, closing their gates to other realms in the hopes that the storm of Darkseid and his New Gods would simply pass them by. It was a foolish hope, one which would only see them picked off once everyone else had already been slain or scattered. There were those who recognized such facts. Hermes of the Olympians, Erlang Shen of the Celestial Bureaucracy, Thoth of the Pesedjet, and Ameterasu of the Amatsukami all knew this and they devised a plan to save all who remained. The plan was two-fold, first a group of Volunteers would be formed to aid those still fighting in holding the line. Next, a delegation would be sent to New Genesis, begging Highfather Izaya to intervene.

The Volunteer Force consisted of various gods, Susanoo the Storm God of the Amatsukami, Horus the Warrior God of the Pesedjet, Sun Wukong the Monkey King of the Celestial Bureaucracy, and Ares the Bringer of War of the Olympians fought alongside many other Gods in the war. They were present at the Slaughter in Asgard, they helped hold off Kalibak and Steppenwolf's Legions while Tir Na Nog evacuated into Faerie, and were now once again holding the line as Svarga was under attack alongside the Devas of India.

It was a brutal fight, thunder roiling in the Sky as Susanoo helped Indra strike down the flying swarms of Parademons with bolts of lightning. Sun Wukong battled with Steppenwolf, Electro-Axe clashing against the Ruyi Jingu Bang as each god struggled to vanquish the other. Kalibak and Ares brawled in the middle of the clashing armies, Molten Sword and Beta Club striking out, heedless of combatants around them as they fought. Horus, golden javelin in hand, threw his weapon at the battling Dog Cavalry, Harassers, and Gravi-Guards. Each time his javelin landed, an explosion of gokden light erased dozens of enemy troops and his javelin returned to Horus' hand for another throw.

The Devas were not to be outdone either, as Kali battled Granny Goodness and her female furies alongside Shiva, taking on four godly opponents to their two and managing to stalemate the advance. Meanwhile, Ganesh fought Canis Major and Canis Minor, the two New Gods who represented a dark mirror of honorable warriors. Hanuman likewise fought with Kanto, the Assassin of Darkseid and New God of Murder, Kanto's blades failing to pierce the toughened hide of Hanuman in any meaningful way, but Hanuman failing to land a telling blow.

All along the front, battles were ocurring as Gods clashed with their Apokaliptan opponents in stalemated duels. Something would have to give, as no stalemate could last forever. Indeed, something did give, Steppenwolf. The General of Darkseid's Armies had chased Sun Wukong into a section of dense woodlands near the gates to Svarga. The Monkey King had baited his opponent here with jibes and taunts during their battle, and Steppenwolf had allowed his rage to get the better of him. Now, fighting on a battlefield where Sun Wukong held the advantage, the Wily Monkey King struck out in such a way as to press that advantage to the hilt.

"Over here, dumb brute!" Taunted Sun Wukong appearing to Steppenwolf's right, suddenly.

Steppenwolf struck with his electro-axe, fully intending to cleave the nuisance in two. It worked and for a moment, Steppenwolf shouted in triumph as the Monkey King misjudged his parry. His electro axe struck into the annoying Monkey's side. . .and suddenly there was no more Monkey. Instead, two halves of a strand of hair fell away from the sparking blade of Steppenwolf's Electro-Axe. Steppenwolf had barely a moment to realize his mistake before a giant, towering, pole struck into him from above and behind, the size-changing heft of the Ruyi Jingu Bang crashing into Steppenwolf's neck and shoulders, plowing him through multiple trees and knocking away his Electro-Axe with the impact.

Steppenwolf was thrust through many trees and out of the forest before plowing into the dirt and forcibly dragged along the ground by the still-extending staff. He skidded to a halt near the gates of Svarga, beaten, bruised, and bloodied from the sudden assault as the Ruyi Jingu Bang retracted. As Steppenwolf struggled to his feet, Sun Wukong leaped out of the trees, spinning his staff around and walking on clouds toward him. With a roar of rage, Steppenwolf pulled a Fahren Knife from his boot, tossing the blade at Sun Wukong only for the Monkey King to use his spinning staff to bat the thrown blade back at Steppenwolf in a parry. The blade sunk into Steppenwolf's shoulder, and shortly afterward, Sun Wukong brought the haft of the Ruyi Jingu Bang down on Steppenwolf's head.

The force of the blow sent shockwaves around the battlefield that collapsed the remnants of the forest and bowled over combatants on both sides, even causing the walls of Svarga to crack in places. Steppenwolf's eyes rolled up into the back of his head even as blood gushed from his nose and ears, then the General of Apokalips' Armies collapsed to the ground, unconscious. With that signal, the battle began to turn. A bolt from Indra struck Canis Minor, which in turn allowed Ganesh to cave in Canis Major's chest with his elephantine fist. Hanuman finally struck a telling blow on Kanto, breaking the Assassin's arm even as Horus' javelin struck down the New God Tyrus' Three-Headed Beast of War, piercing its heart and blasting Tyrus away with explosive Force. Susanoo descended from high to disembowel a Female Fury and electrocute another, forcing Granny Goodness to retreat from him, Kali, and Shiva.

Then Ares knocked Kalibak away with a punch that shattered the Son of Darkseid's jaw and suddenly all Apokalitan Officers were withdrawing, down, or dead. This might be an unqualified victory, the first for the Godly Forces in the entire war not to be a Pyrrhic Victory or to come from a minor engagement. The forces of Svarga surged forward, driving Apokalips' armies from the field only for things to turn once more. With a loud roar like the booming of a ship-sized drum, a Boom Tube opened and out stepped the Archenemy himself. Darkseid arrived on the field, bringing with him another two Parademon Legions.

As he arrived, he spotted the prone forms of Steppenwolf and Kalibak and growled out, "Pathetic. It seems my uncle and son could not win this battle. I suppose it had to happen eventually. Still, now that I have arrived, victory should be a simple matter."

With that pronouncement, twin beams of crackling, red, death lanced out from Darkseid's eyes and lanced out for Horus. Horus prepared to fly away, dodging the beams, only for them to zig-zag around him, carve through hundreds of Warriors of Svarga, and destroy the gates of the Devas' holy city. Immediately, his forces rushed for the opening their Master created, suddenly forcing the Godly Forces back to defend the City. Granny Goodness and Kanto stepped out of smaller boom tubes to regroup near Darkseid, Mother Boxes already healing their battle damage. Even more boom tubes opened bringing more officers, the gigantic form of Devilance the Pursuer and the Green Form of Titan the World-Shaker led legions of their own onto the field, even as other female furies arrived to reinforce Granny Goodness.

"Report." Demanded Darkseid.

"It's like Asgard all over again. Too many Warrior Gods to easily crack." Reported Kanto.

"Indeed, until you arrived, we didn't have the forces. Now it should be a simple matter to win." Added Granny Goodness.

"This fight has gone on long enough. Once we finish here, we will head to kill the Akua and Manidoog, those Primitives are the last remaining Pantheons that dare oppose me. Once they have been slain, I will have uncontested command of the Sphere of the Gods. Then we will turn our attention to that fool Izaya." Intoned Darkseid.

"I think not! You think you have brought enough troops to slay us all? Think again!" Came a voice from above. Darkseid looked up and beheld Sun Wukong striding on clouds, a fistfull of fur pulled from his simian face.

"One god against Darkseid? It took Thor, Odin, and Loki combined to stall me at Asgard. What hope does a single Monkey have?" Scoffed Darkseid.

"Maybe you need to get your eyes checked, probably too many death rays to be healthy!" Scoffed Sun Wukong, tossing the fistful of fur into the air. Each strand of hair suddenly metamorphosized into a clone of the Monkey King, forming an instant Legion that blotted out the sun above Darkseid.

"I'm not the one outnumbered here, you are!" Chuckled Sun Wukong.

Darkseid couldn't help himself, he let out a loud belly laugh at the sight, even throwing his head back in the process.

"Well played! It seems you have attained victory here, Monkey King, however temporary. Kanto, call the Legions back, we're withdrawing." Commanded Darkseid.

"My lord?" Questioned Kanto.

"If he can make legions like that, our time would be better served elsewhere. Do not make me repeat my command, you will not find the consequences pleasant." Intoned Darkseid.

With a nod, Kanto sounded the retreat. Boom tubes opened up as the forces of Apokalips withdrew from the field. Two days later, they struck at the Akua of Hawaii only to be stymied by the arrival of New Genesis on the field. Izaya fought Darkseid personally and forced him to withdraw, battered and bloodied with his Elite as three Legions died on the field. The day after that, an uneasy truce was signed, the war in heaven ended. Darkseid and Highfather Izaya pledged to trade their nextborn sons as hostages to keep the peace. Unfortunately, for many Pantheons, peace came too late. Entire Pantheons had been put to the sword, their celestial realms lay ruined and unpopulated, and what remnants remained scattered through the Dreaming, Faerie, and a dozen other realms besides. It would be nine centuries before Darkseid dared venture forth from Apokalips again. When he did, it would be in pursuit of the one thing that would allow him to defeat Izaya and finish what he had started.

The Anti-Life Equation. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here we see how the whole Death of the Old Gods thing played out in this Timeline. Imagine this is the story being told to Jackie by Lady Meifang.

As you can see, a lot of Pantheons did wind up slain, with others decimated and the survivors forced to flee to other realms. The war didn't go well for the Various Pantheons, but a few losses turned into Pyrrhic Victories in this timeline. Mostly as a way to explain how folks like Odin show up in Sandman, even though they're supposed to be dead in mainline continuity.

Yes, I know that Vertigo isn't technically canon to the mainline DCU, but I already put in Hellblazer Era Constantine so I've already broken the seal on that. Anyway, with so much death and destruction, you can kind of see why Darkseid coming back to invade Earth would spook Circe and force her to try and conquer Olympus as a preparatory measure.

At any rate, the next chapter we'll be back with Jackie.

Stay tuned. . .