The sky over Berlin was split in half. Fires consumed the city. The screams of millions echoed beneath a storm of lightning and blood. High above the carnage GirlSteel and Zerion were locked in a death struggle. She fought with everything she had left blood spilling from her mouth, one arm broken, her legs barely responding. But still she fought. She punched, kicked, and screamed.
Zerion caught her fist in midair. "You don't understand your place." he whispered, cold and amused.
Then In one swift motion Zerion's punch caved in her helmet. SteelGirl's Blood sprayed out as the skull beneath fractured from the sheer impact. Blood burst from her nose, eyes, and ears. The punch ripped through her mind, her brain seizing. Her body flew like a ragdoll across the sky spinning, limp, before smashing through four buildings and landing in a crater. Smoke rose. She didn't move.
Atlas Vale screamed from above. "STELLA!!!"
He rocketed down, smashing into the ground beside her broken body. The sight of her head bleeding, twisted shattered something inside him. He reached out, trembling, hand on her pulse… Still faint. She was alive… barely. His eyes locked upward.
Zerion hovered over them, laughing softly. "Is this your hope? This... bleeding corpse?" You just signed your death."
Atlas roared. The sky burned around him. The Dreadlight core overloaded, every circuit tearing, every limiter unlocking. His body screamed in pain as power surged through veins not meant to hold it. He rose face covered in blood, eyes glowing white hot. His voice was deep. Alien.
"You took everything." "Now I take you."
He charged. Zerion smiled. They collided mid air with a shockwave that shattered every window in Europe. Sound vanished. Air rippled into space. The Earth itself quaked. The fight became hell. Every punch Atlas landed flesh tore, bones cracked, blood sprayed across clouds. Zerion fought back with equal brutality, hitting Vale so hard that blood poured from his mouth, ribs jutted from his sides. Zerion slammed Atlas into the ground of Moscow cratered it then threw him across the world into Mexico City, where they crashed through skyscrapers and crushed bridges. But Atlas wouldn't stop. Even as his body broke. Even as blood ran from his eyes. Even when Zerion stabbed his hand through his stomach .He kept. Fighting.
Back in Berlin, Stella gasped, blood trailing down her chin, whispering
"Don't… die… Atlas…"
The sound exploded like thunder trapped in a steel drum, echoing across the battlefield. It wasn't just loud it was felt. A deep, concussive blast that rattled bones and split the air like a shockwave. Atlas Vale's fist charged with the full power of the Dreadlight Core, blazing in molten fury smashed straight into Zerion's face. The air warped, reality bent, and the sky was torn open as the punch sent Zerion flying into space, through clouds, through orbit And all the way to Mars. The red planet cracked as Zerion's body slammed into its surface, carving a mile-wide trench, dust erupting into space. Silence. Then Zerion's head twitched. His jaw cracked back into place. He slowly turned to face Earth, and for the first time... His face showed rage. Eyes glowing deep red. Skin twitching. Breathing like an animal. He zoomed back with a howl, faster than light suddenly he appeared right in front of Atlas, hovering inches away. His face twisted in a horrific Superman-like snarl, glowing eyes locked onto Atlas's bruised face.
"You… dare…" Zerion said"YOU WOULDN'T DARE THREATEN ME!"
He grabbed Atlas's chestplate and drove him into the ground, cracking tectonic plates below, making cities hundreds of miles away tremble.
"You think pain makes you strong?" "You think her blood justifies your rage?" Zerion's eyes glowed.
"I AM YOUR GOD!."
But Atlas Ironsoul, coughing blood, looked back and spat into Zerion's face.
"Then let's kill a god."
--- To be continued…