The Javelin-7 descended through the night sky, its advanced cloaking systems rendering it invisible to Cadmus's comprehensive radar arrays. Below them, the sprawling Project Cadmus facility, nestled discreetly within a remote mountain range, hummed with a deceptive calm. Inside the Javelin's cramped cabin, the air crackled with a potent mix of tension and anticipation.
"Cadmus maintains advanced counter-meta-human defenses," Batman's voice, ever the tactical lead, echoed in the quiet space. "Expect energy dampeners, sonic disruptors, and advanced automated turrets. Their primary goal will be to incapacitate, not necessarily to kill, but don't underestimate their lethality."
Superman nodded grimly. "We'll minimize collateral damage. Our priority is the unknown entity and securing the facility, not a full-scale assault unless absolutely necessary."
"My readings are still fuzzy," Cyborg reported, his cybernetic eye scanning the architectural schematics of the complex projected onto a holographic display. "Their internal energy signatures are fluctuating wildly around the lower levels. It's like trying to find a single note in a cosmic orchestra."
"That'll be the 'endless light' Constantine was on about," Flash muttered, bouncing his knee slightly in a nervous habit. He glanced at Manny, who stood silently, observing the readouts with an unreadable expression. "Still can't believe we're taking on a 'primordial god' before breakfast."
"Its essence is growing stronger," Manny stated, his voice a low hum that seemed to resonate through the Javelin's hull. "The veil thins. It approaches its full awakening."
"We're ready when you are, Batman," Wonder Woman declared, adjusting the Bracelets of Submission on her wrists, her gaze resolute.
Supergirl stood beside her, her fists clenching and unclenching, eager to act. Martian Manhunter's eyes glowed faintly, already probing the thoughts of the Cadmus personnel below, though the strange cosmic resonance made it difficult to get a clear read on their objectives regarding the entity.
As the Javelin touched down softly within a concealed access tunnel, a section of the mountain wall slid open without a sound. Batman took point, his stealth suit absorbing what little light there was. Flash moved like a blur, sweeping ahead to neutralize the first layer of automated defenses.
They moved with practiced efficiency through the sterile corridors. Security checkpoints were bypassed, guards were swiftly and non-lethally subdued, and alarms were neutralized before they could even sound. The deeper they went, the more pronounced the strange energy became. It wasn't just on Cyborg's readouts now; it was a tangible presence, a pressure on the senses, a faint, almost imperceptible hum that vibrated through the very floor.
"We're approaching the main research sectors," Batman announced. "Be ready. This is where it gets messy."
Just as he spoke, a Cadmus security patrol, alerted by an anomalous energy spike from the Javelin's subtle presence, rounded a corner. A sharp bark into a communicator shattered the quiet. "Intruder alert! Section C-7! Highly armed individuals!"
Chaos erupted. Alarms blared, red lights flashed, and the facility was plunged into a cacophony of klaxons and shouted commands. Automated turrets whirred to life, slamming suppression fields and concussive blasts into the corridor. Cadmus security forces, highly trained and well-equipped, poured from side passages, their weapons hot.
This wasn't a stealth mission anymore; it was a full-scale assault.
Superman launched forward, a red and blue blur, disarming guards with precise, non-lethal strikes. Wonder Woman deflected barrages of energy fire with her bracelets, leading the charge with Amazonian fury. Flash became a whirlwind, tying up dozens of guards in mere seconds. Cyborg's sonic cannons blasted through reinforced doors, creating new pathways while Martian Manhunter's telekinesis shattered weapon systems and telepathically stunned clusters of Cadmus agents. Supergirl matched Superman's speed and power, clearing their path with efficient force.
Constantine moved with a grim determination, deflecting stray energy bolts with quick arcane gestures, while Manny hovered silently behind him, his presence radiating an almost unsettling calm amidst the escalating battle.
"They're initiating lockdown protocols!" Cyborg yelled over the din. "We're losing direct routes to the core research facility!"
"We force it!" Batman commanded, directing Superman and Wonder Woman towards a reinforced blast door. "Their primary concern will be protecting the entity. They'll bottleneck their forces there."
They fought their way through wave after wave of Cadmus's elite forces, each corridor a new gauntlet of advanced weaponry and desperate resistance. Constantine threw out bursts of arcane energy, twisting weapon barrels into knots or causing enemy combatants to trip over their own feet with minor, humiliating hexes. The entire facility was now a warzone, the sounds of battle echoing through its depths.
Finally, they blasted through the last fortified door and burst into the cavernous, multi-tiered laboratory. It was a chaotic scene. Scientists, some panicking, some grimly determined, scurried around massive machinery. Dominating the center of the chamber was a colossal, cylindrical containment vat, easily fifty feet tall, glowing with an ominous, sickly green light emanating from the liquid within. Tubes snaked from it, connected to immense pumps, but the pumps were inert, their operation halted by the raging battle and the frantic lockdown.
And there, observing with an unnerving calm from a reinforced viewing platform high above the chamber, stood Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller, flanked by heavily armed Cadmus security forces. Dr. Watson was frantically typing on a console nearby, his attempts to initiate the liquid removal procedure clearly thwarted by the League's interference.
"The Justice League!" Luthor's voice, amplified by hidden speakers, boomed through the chamber, laced with a mix of fury and disbelief. "You fools! You have no idea what you're interfering with! This is the future! A tool to control the meta-human threat!"
"Luthor, Waller, stand down now!" Superman's voice resonated with authority. "What is that thing? What have you done here? This energy signature is off the charts!"
"It's none of your concern, Superman!" Waller snapped, her gaze as cold and hard as stone. "This is a sanctioned black-op. You are trespassing on government property, interfering with national security!"
"National security doesn't cover unleashing cosmic forces you don't understand!" Wonder Woman retorted, her hand instinctively going to her lasso. "Cease this madness before it's too late!"
"Too late for you to control it, perhaps," Luthor sneered, a glint of madness in his eyes. "But for us, this is precisely on schedule! This is the ultimate deterrent!"
The Cadmus forces around Luthor and Waller raised their weapons, their resolve hardening. It was clear negotiation was over.
"They're not stopping," Batman stated, moving to engage. "Subdue them! Secure the facility!"
A tense standoff erupted into a furious clash. The Justice League moved with blistering speed and precision, their coordinated attacks overwhelming Cadmus's elite. Superman and Supergirl became blurs of red and blue, neutralizing guards and tearing through defenses. Wonder Woman's lasso flashed, binding weaponized agents, while Flash disarmed dozens in a heartbeat. Martian Manhunter's telepathy shut down minds, and Cyborg's cannons shattered advanced weaponry. Constantine, with a wicked grin, conjured illusory imps that danced in front of Cadmus troops, causing them to fire wildly at thin air before being easily subdued.
Luthor snarled, activating personal force fields, but Batman's focused attacks bypassed them, bringing the industrialist to his knees. Waller, for all her iron will, found herself expertly disarmed and contained by Wonder Woman. Dr. Watson and the remaining scientists, terrified by the escalating violence, quickly surrendered or scattered.
As the dust settled, the Cadmus executives and their remaining forces were subdued, lying prone or disarmed. The core lab was secured.
Supergirl, drawn by curiosity floated closer to the immense containment tank. The liquid within churned, opaque and unsettling. Her brow furrowed with concern.
"Kara, wait!" Wonder Woman called out, a warning in her tone. "We don't know what that is. It could be dangerous, even unconscious."
"I know, Diana," Kara replied, her voice soft, her gaze fixed on the figure within. "But it's just lying there. It's unconscious. It looks... peaceful. The Kryptonite should be keeping it completely dormant, right? Maybe it's not a threat, just a victim of Cadmus's experiments." She reached out a tentative hand, placing it against the cool glass, drawn in by a strange, overwhelming beauty she felt emanating from within the tank.
It was then, as Kara's hand pressed to the glass, that Azrael's eyes opened.
The sight was breathtaking and terrifying. His irises, initially a deep, vibrant baby blue, shifted, revealing a complex, floral pattern, each petal unfolding with impossible precision. This intricate design bloomed outwards, consuming the sclera, transforming the whites of his eyes into a mesmerizing, nebular swirl of cosmic dust and starlight.
"By the gods..." Wonderwoman breathed, utterly transfixed by the impossible sight.
"What in the name of Hades is that?" Constantine muttered, his usual bravado replaced by genuine awe. "That ain't just eyes, mate. That's... the cosmos looking back."
Manny's voice, a low hum of ancient wisdom, resonated through the chamber. "The true form of vision. To perceive not just light, but the threads of creation itself."
Dr. Watson, Waller, and Luthor, now subdued but watching, looked on in utter disbelief and growing horror.
"Impossible!" Watson rasped, his voice raw with terror. "The Kryptonite... he shouldn't be able to move a muscle! He shouldn't even be awake!"
"It's a complete neurological lockdown!" Luthor spat, straining against Wonder Woman's lasso. "The Kryptonite suppresses all bio-electrical activity!"
The containment fluid was saturated, designed to render any Kryptonian-derived being utterly powerless.
Yet, within the tank, Azrael slowly, deliberately, reached out his hand, his gaze locked on Supergirl's.
Kara remained transfixed, her hand pressed against the cool glass, drawn in by the overwhelming beauty and power radiating from his eyes. She felt a connection, a resonance with this being, despite the volatile circumstances.
As their hands almost met through the barrier, the chamber didn't just break – it exploded outwards in a blinding flash of white energy, not shrapnel. The entire containment unit, its heavy metal, the Kryptonite-laced liquid, simply disintegrated into nothingness, vaporized on a molecular level by an unseen force.
Azrael floated effortlessly in the void where the tank once was, his hand now gently clasping Supergirl's. The power emanating from him was absolute, yet there was a nascent innocence in the gesture.
After a silent, lingering moment, he softly let go of her hand, his nebular eyes shifting. His gaze, now filled with an ancient clarity and a singular, childlike will, turned slowly, deliberately, towards Dr. Watson.
Dr. Watson, frozen by the gaze, felt a primordial dread wash over him. He saw not a man, but an ultimate, unassailable force.
As Azrael's cosmic eyes locked onto his, Watson's defiant sneer twisted into a silent scream.
There was no physical act, no beam of light or crushing force. Just as with the containment chamber, the threads of Dr. Watson's existence, his memories, his very being, were unraveled and rewoven into pure absence. He simply ceased to have ever existed in that moment, leaving only an inexplicable void where he had stood.
Azrael had removed the one who sought to control him, a simple, decisive act of nascent self-preservation and newfound freedom. He had finally achieved what he wanted, and he wasn't going to let anyone take that away.
Silence descended, heavy and absolute, broken only by the ragged breaths of the Justice League and the terrified gasps of the remaining Cadmus staff. Every hero in the room was stunned. They had witnessed unimaginable power, not as an explosion, but as a perfect, terrifying nullification.
"Bloody hell," Constantine coughed, pushing himself up from where he'd instinctively ducked. His eyes were wide with a mix of horror and morbid fascination. "That's... that's more than just power. That's a fundamental rewrite. He just blinked Watson out of existence, memory and all! No remnants, no nothing! It's as if he never was!"
Manny, for the first time, showed a flicker of something akin to profound concern. His ethereal form seemed to vibrate. "A pure will. Untempered. It perceives and acts with absolute efficiency. This is... an unprecedented awakening. The closest analogy would be a divine decree given form. He desired not to be controlled, and the controller was... undone."
Then, Azrael's gaze shifted again, sweeping over the remaining masterminds: Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller. His True Sight pierced their facades, revealing their intent to control, to manipulate, to exert their will over others—a mirror of what Dr. Watson had attempted.
To Azrael, still processing the world in stark, absolute terms, these were simply more obstacles, more 'controllers' who might threaten his newly acquired freedom.
As his cosmic eyes began to shimmer with intent towards Luthor and Waller, the Justice League reacted as one. This time, there was no hesitation. This new being had just erased someone, and they couldn't allow it to happen again.
"NO, STOP!" Superman roared, launching himself forward, a blur of red and blue, aiming to physically interpose himself.
Wonder Woman followed, her lasso already unfurling, while Batman launched a cluster of stun pellets designed for high-power metahumans, and Flash began to circle, attempting to disorient. Cyborg prepped his sonic cannons, and Martian Manhunter extended his formidable telepathic will, trying to connect, to understand, to stop this being.
But their efforts were futile. Azrael didn't flinch. He didn't even react with aggression.
As Superman's fist neared, the Man of Steel simply passed through Azrael's form as if he were a ghost, his momentum carrying him past his target. Wonder Woman's lasso, instead of coiling, unraveled into shimmering threads of light before it could even touch him. Batman's pellets veered wildly, becoming harmless dust motes mid-air. Flash found himself inexplicably slowing, then unable to move, as if the very space around him had solidified. Cyborg's sonic waves simply dissipated into silence before reaching their target, and Martian Manhunter's mental probe recoiled with a shock that sent him reeling, a primal, innocent but unyielding will rebuffing his every attempt.
Azrael simply held his gaze, his nebular eyes fixed on the Justice League. A flicker of genuine, childlike confusion crossed his features. He perceived their intent: righteous, powerful, aimed at him. But he also perceived that these were the very beings who had come here to stop Cadmus, to subdue Waller and Luthor.
His powerful voice, resonating with a wisdom beyond age but now tinged with profound puzzlement, broke the stunned silence.
"You... you came to stop them. You fought them." He gestured with his eyes towards the subdued Waller and Luthor. "Why?"
His gaze is fixed on them, particularly on Superman and Wonder Woman.
"I perceive the interwoven threads of suffering these individuals have woven. I see the malice, the control, the deprivation of freedom. I see the pain their actions have propagated, the lives ruined, the potential extinguished."
He gestures with his eyes towards the empty space where the doctor was, and then towards Waller and Luthor.
"Why do you seek to preserve such corruption? Why do you defend the architects of suffering? You fight against the darkness, yet you shield its heart. Explain yourselves."