Ascension Code: Reborn in the DC Universe - Chapter 108

The golden cage dissolved in a shower of crackling sparks, releasing the team into the humid, heavy air of the Bartholomew swamp. Aqualad fell first, his body spinning with Atlantean precision to cushion the impact against the thick, black mud. His feet hit the ground with a dull thud, muddy water rising to his knees and splashing onto his wet uniform. Beside him, Artemis landed almost instantly, rolling once to dissipate the force of the fall. The two stood up almost together, shoulders nearly touching, panting breaths cutting through the heavy air of sweet sap and decaying vegetation.

They were not alone.

Poison Ivy stood directly in front of them, elevated on a living platform of thick roots that writhed like hungry snakes. The plant tentacles pulsed, rising from the muddy ground with a damp rustle, lifting the villain nearly two meters high. Her green skin gleamed in the dim light filtering through the twisted treetops, her red hair cascading like wild vines over her bare shoulders. She stared at the two young men as if they were insignificant insects daring to destroy her sacred garden. Her narrowed green eyes overflowed with pure contempt, her full lips curved in a slow, predatory grin.

“Well…” she murmured, her husky, sensual voice echoing among the trees, “let’s get rid of the pest.”

Artemis and Aqualad reacted instinctively. The archer reached for the bow and empty quiver that should have been on her back. Aqualad searched for the water pipes on his wrists. Nothing. His weapons, his equipment—everything had been stripped during the capture in the cage. Artemis cursed through clenched teeth, her voice heavy with frustration and urgency.

“Damn… I feel like I’m naked.”

Aqualad turned to her, his expression serious but unwavering, his eyes steady despite the chaos around them. His voice was calm, rehearsed, filled with confidence forged in months of relentless practice.

“But we still have our training. Maneuver seven.”

Without hesitation, he turned his back to Poison Ivy—an unthinkable gesture in the middle of a battlefield, especially against an enemy like Poison Ivy, who controlled her own environment. It was an act of absolute trust, built over countless hours of sparring on the mats of Mount Justice, where every movement was rehearsed until it became instinct. Artemis recognized the signal immediately. Her muscles responded even before her mind. She rushed toward him, her feet striking the mud with precision, her breath controlled. With her last step, she planted both feet in Aqualad’s intertwined hands. He bent his knees, his Atlantean tattoos gleaming with an intense blue, and hurled her upward with all his superhuman strength.

Artemis flew like a living projectile. Her body spun through the air, cutting through the barrier of vines and roots that Poison Ivy had erected in defense. Thick branches whipped uselessly, thorns scraping the empty air as she passed over everything—vines, roots, the villain herself. At the peak of her leap, she delivered a perfect spinning kick, her heel striking the side of Poison Ivy’s head with a sharp, violent impact.

CRACK!

Poison Ivy spun in the air, her body arching in pain, stunned for a few precious moments. She rolled through the black mud, her red hair dirty with earth, vines swirling around her, losing coordination and whipping aimlessly. The villain tried to get up, but the world was spinning, her vision blurred by the force of the blow.

A few meters away, in another muddy clearing in the swamp, Kid Flash landed with less grace. The speedster hit the damp ground, rolling several times before coming to rest face down, black mud clinging to his vibrant red uniform. He rose in a blur of motion, hands rushing across his body to brush away the dirt—droplets of mud flying as if time had frozen around him. In less than a second, he was clean, his eyes scanning for targets.

He found two.

Count Vertigo and Black Adam were standing close to each other. Kid Flash glanced to the side and saw Erick—Forge—slowly rising, shaking his head inside his helmet. Beside him, Starfire also rose, her golden skin glowing faintly in the damp twilight. The two seemed to have fallen close to one another. Kid Flash sensed something shift in the air. Erick’s eyes, visible through the visor, began to glow intensely, a furious blue cutting through the darkness. The entire helmet seemed to pulse with contained energy. Kid Flash felt it deep within: Erick was enraged. It wasn’t ordinary anger—it was something profound, calculated, and lethal.

Erick’s voice invaded his mind, clear, cold, and full of command:

Kid Flash, flank Count Vertigo. Leave Black Adam to me and Star.

Kid Flash looked back. Erick now looked like a small giant. At the start of the mission, he was the normal height of 1.66 meters. Now, he stood at 1.95 meters, broad shoulders, gigantic arms swollen as if the armor—or something inside it—was inflating him with raw power. Defined muscles tensed the E10 plates, broad chest, imposing posture. When did he grow? When did he transform into this? Kid Flash didn’t have time to question. There was no room for thought. Only action.

He turned to Count Vertigo and shot off in a low swoop, his body becoming a blur of red and yellow. He veered to the left, then to the right, beginning to circle the villain in increasingly rapid circles, creating a vortex of wind that stirred leaves and mud. The goal was to destabilize him, to force the Count to lose focus.

Count Vertigo shouted to his companion beside him:

“Black Adam! Where are Robin and Martian Woman?”

But when he looked away for a split second, Black Adam was no longer there. A black blur passed like lightning through the area, leaving a trail of destroyed trees. Count Vertigo turned his head toward the blur’s location and saw a clearing being forced open—trunks cracking, branches flying, a trail of destruction cutting through the swampy forest. Immediately afterward, a purple and red blur sped past him, cutting through the air with a sharp whistle.

The only thing Count Vertigo managed to say was:

“Damn them…”

Before Kid Flash’s hook landed on his chin with brutal precision, the impact echoed through the swamp like muffled thunder. The villain spun in the air, his body swirling, and rolled through the black mud, unconscious before he even stopped.

Erick Smith — Forge — transformed Black Adam’s body into a living shield. With his enormous arms encased in reinforced armor, he held the villain by the waist like a puppet, flying at brutal speed through the swampy forest. Elemental fire roared from his legs, jets of blue-white plasma erupting from the soles like thrusters, propelling them both on a destructive trajectory. Centuries-old trees exploded on contact. Thick trunks snapped like twigs, splinters flying in all directions as Black Adam’s body served as a battering ram. Each impact produced a dry rumble, wood cracking, sap spurting like plant blood. Black Adam tried to fight back, heavy punches hammering the back of Erick’s armor. The impacts echoed like blows on metal, but had no effect. The new Martian density, combined with Venom and the armor, absorbed the brute force as if they were mere slaps.

Erick didn’t stop. He accelerated, spinning Black Adam’s body to collide with more trunks, more roots, more obstacles. The swamp trembled. Leaves and branches rained down. The air grew thick with the smell of burnt wood and charred sap. Black Adam growled, trying to break free, but Erick’s arms were like pincers of living steel.

The villain finally managed to contort himself in mid-air. With a precise and savage movement, he aimed his knee directly at Erick’s chest. The knee strike landed squarely, divine force exploding against the breastplate of the armor. The impact was devastating. Erick was thrown backward like a projectile, his body spinning uncontrollably, crashing through several trees before hitting the muddy ground, carving a trench in the damp earth.

Black Adam didn’t miss the opportunity. With a cruel grin, he flew towards his fallen opponent, his fist already retracted for a final blow.

But it was intercepted.

Starfire surged forth like a purple and gold comet. The Tamaranean princess landed a clean, straight punch to Black Adam’s face, her fist charged with pure solar energy. The impact sent the villain flying a full meter into the air, his head snapping back with an audible crack. He stopped, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and gave a grim grin, his eyes gleaming with contempt.

“Weak.”

He raised his fist to return the blow, but Erick was already there. The hybrid’s gigantic arms wrapped around Black Adam’s waist from behind, tightening like a press. Elemental flames exploded again on his legs, jets of bluish-white plasma roaring with renewed intensity. Erick took off, dragging the villain into the sky in a violent upward trajectory. Black Adam struggled, punches flying backward, but Erick wouldn’t let go. They ascended quickly, the swamp shrinking below, trees appearing as miniatures.

At the highest point, Erick simply opened his arms.

Black Adam floated for a moment, his face confused, not understanding what was happening.

Then a purple and red blur appeared in front of him.

Starfire, concentrating all her solar energy into her fists, landed a devastating punch to Black Adam’s face. The energy blast was colossal—a ball of golden and purple light that illuminated the swamp’s night sky. The impact hurled Black Adam back like a meteor, his body spinning in the air as smoke billowed from his face.

As he fell, Erick was already in motion again. He grabbed Black Adam’s body in mid-air, using it once more as a human shield. Channeling pure energy into his hands, Erick created an incandescent white plasma, shining like the heart of a star. The palms of the armor burned with extreme heat, the surrounding air distorting into waves of heat.

They descended like a comet.

Erick pointed Black Adam’s body towards the ground, accelerating with the elemental thrusters at maximum. The descent was a blur of fire and plasma. At the moment of impact, he released all the energy accumulated in his hands. The white plasma touched the ground first.

The explosion was absurd.

A shockwave expanded in a circle, earth, mud, and water flying in all directions. Damp, wet trees in the small swamp area instantly burst into flames, blue and white flames licking the trunks despite the moisture. The surrounding water evaporated into a cloud of scalding steam, creating a smoking crater where the two bodies collided. The sound was deafening—a thunderclap that echoed throughout Bartholomew Swamp, sending birds and creatures fleeing in panic.

Smoke rose in a dense column, mingling with the natural mist. In the center of the destruction, Erick slowly rose, his armor gleaming with residual plasma, his blue eyes burning behind the visor. Black Adam lay at the bottom of the crater, his body smoking, but still moving.

Read the chapters in advance: patreon.com/cw/pararaio