MARVEL/DC COMICS PRESENTS #14

Apocalypse/Darkseid

The Skies Above Ancient Egypt

2939 BC

The war was over.

The great enemy had returned. He brought his mighty ships and descended upon the nation of Egypt. The then ruler of the land, En Sabah Nur, fought the invasion with his lieutenants, the Four Horsemen. They fought valiantly and kept the great enemy at bay for weeks before they were defeated. The Horsemen were killed, and their leader was captured and tortured.

Aboard the great enemy’s ship, En Sabah Nur, beaten and defeated, awaited his fate.

“He is awake, my lord,” a voice said.

En Sabah Nur opened his eyes and found himself in a dark place. He felt himself on his knees with his arms outstretched by metal manacles that had to be connected to the walls. The warm air smelled of sulfur and burnt flesh which seemed to rise from the floor beneath. He turned his neck and felt electric pain radiate down his body. His muscles felt almost like dead fleshy weights. Invisible mental commands from his thoughts searched for the energy to build up within himself. Concentration searched for the power that was his birthright to free himself.

"Your power will not work here," a deep cold voice spoke before him. It was different from the first and familiar. "It is because of that power that you still live."

He raised his head despite the pain and looked ahead. A raised platform could be seen in the shadows with a dark stone like throne upon it. Sitting there was a figure who seemed to be part of the darkness. Aside from the two red glowing eyes one could not differentiate the figure from the darkness. "Great enemy."

"I am known by many names on many worlds. You may call me your lord and master, Darkseid." the voice said as a dim light flickered to life exposing the figure on the throne. The figure appeared to be an armored man that appeared at war with the light above and barely glistened. Within the armor was a being of grim countenance and dark stone like skin. Soulless crimson eyes stared at him with a fire that seemed to contradict the darkness around him.

"You are not my master."

"How dare you! To speak as such to Lord Darkseid, I should kill you!" the first voice said with righteous indignation. A figure whirled in front of him and grabbed his face. It appeared to be a man with a sinister frail looking visage. He was dressed in a blood red robe with a hood atop his head. A dark whip crackled with energy before his face.

"Desaad. We do not wish for our guest to be killed. Step away." Darkseid commanded.

Desaad backed away and bowed before Darkseid. "As you wish, my lord."

"I take it that you are called En Sabah Nur. Your followers shouted it before I killed them. Despite their abilities, they did not equal your power."

"They were weak. Not worthy." En Sabah Nur said, mustering the strength to speak. "You have fulfilled their life."

"What about you?" Darkseid asked. "Should I fulfill your life with death as well? For you were weak before me as they were before you."

"Then do it."

"No."

"Why?"

"You interest me. There are few that could have faced me with such power as you possess in this world and lived. I had my people study your lieutenants' bodies and later you as well. Desaad found something within you. I wager the hands of the Celestials have gifted you... power. A power that had to be hidden within you and your lieutenants. A power that I cannot ignore."

"I will not serve you."

"Tempting...to break you to my will. However, the choices before me are to either destroy you and all of your ilk or to enslave you all to my will. In time, I wager you and your kind will threaten the world of the New Gods themselves as well as all creation."

En Sabah Nur raised up as much as he could. Straining muscles tensed as he looked deep into Darkseid's eyes. "I will not serve you. If you let me live, I will grow in power and defeat you when the time comes. You have no choice but to destroy me before I destroy you. "

Darkseid gave a small smile. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. A wager is before me."

"My lord," Desaad said. "Surely you must destroy them now."

Darkseid stared at En Sabah Nur for a few minutes with a cold intensity before speaking. "I have decided. I will spare your life, mortal. You and your ilk. I shall accept this wager before me and let you live. I shall also withdraw my invasion of your world and return to Apokolips. You will be returned to your world along with the bodies of your lieutenants. I wager that I will survive your rise in the centuries to come, mortal. I also wager that you may become an apocalypse to your world as well."

"I beg to differ, great enemy. I beg to differ. We will meet again." En Sabah Nur said as he gave a small smile of his own. "Then I will be the apocalypse that destroys you and your world."

Within hours, Darkseid proved to be true to his word. En Sabah Nur and the bodies of his lieutenants were returned to Earth. The Apokoliptan forces withdrew from Egypt and the surrounding areas and returned to the stars.

As their ship traveled through the dimensional barrier, Desaad approached Darkseid in his throne room aboard the ship. He bowed low before him and rose and asked, "My lord, if I may, why did you let the mortal go?"

Darkseid sat almost immobile upon his throne and answered, "I share this with you in confidence, Desaad. The Celestials have been busy upon this world. I suspect that they have planted the seeds of great power within humans. Power that is showing the first signs of fruit within En Sabah Nur and his lieutenants. Power that I have witnessed firsthand. Power that may also be the source to achieving my greatest prize."

"The Anti-Life Equation? Surely these wretches do not harbor it." Desaad said dismayed at the thought.

"Perhaps not now, but in the future. One day the Celestials' crop will bear many fruits. In that day, I wager that the Equation will be among them. Then, loyal one, I wager that all will belong to Darkseid."