The sheer force of Darkseid's focused Omega Beams slammed into Supergirl's psyche, a psychic assault of unimaginable intensity. Kara staggered, a raw scream tearing from her throat as visions of absolute control and utter subjugation flooded her mind. Her eyes, usually bright with determination, glazed over with a dawning horror, the iron will that defined her beginning to fracture under the tyrant's relentless psychic onslaught.
"Kara!" Superman roared, breaking away from his brutal engagement with Apocalypse, his concern overriding his fury. He lunged towards her, but a swift, brutal backhand from the Apokoliptian tyrant sent him crashing through the debris of a shattered skyscraper.
"Your concern is… touching, Kryptonian," Apocalypse sneered, his red eyes burning with sadistic glee. "But your defiance is futile. She will break. They all will."
Batman, witnessing the devastating effect of the Omega Beams, barked orders into his comm. "Zatanna, Michael, disrupt the energy flow! J'onn, get inside her head, try to create a psychic shield! We need to break Darkseid's focus!"
Zatanna, her face a mask of grim determination, unleashed a barrage of primal-infused magic towards Darkseid, bolts of pure life force colliding with the seemingly impenetrable energy field surrounding his colossal form. The magic flared harmlessly against the dark aura, like sparks against a starless night.
"It's no use," she gasped, the effort draining her. "His power… it's on a different scale."
J'onn, his Martian physiology allowing him to traverse psychic barriers, attempted to reach Kara's fracturing consciousness, but Darkseid's influence was a suffocating darkness, a tyrannical will that pushed back with overwhelming force. J'onn recoiled, clutching his head in pain. "His mind… it's a fortress. I can't reach her."
Michael, witnessing Kara's torment and the futility of their direct assaults on Darkseid, felt a surge of primal rage mixed with a desperate resolve. He could sense the raw power within Kara, the inherent light of her spirit fighting against the encroaching darkness. He knew they couldn't defeat Darkseid with brute force alone. They needed a different approach, a way to exploit his arrogance, his belief in his own invincibility.
"Batman," Michael commed, his voice low and urgent. "You said exploit his arrogance. How?"
"He believes in absolute control, Queen," Batman replied, his voice grim as he dodged a massive blow from Apocalypse. "He rarely anticipates… resistance from within his own instruments."
A dangerous idea began to form in Michael's mind, a high-stakes gambit that relied on his growing understanding of primal energy, Lyra's ancient wisdom, and a desperate gamble on Apocalypse's twisted ambition.
"Lyra," Michael communicated telepathically, his mind linking with hers across the chaos of the battlefield. "Can you sense the connection between Apocalypse and Darkseid? The chain of command?"
"A chain forged in fear and domination," Lyra responded, her emerald eyes narrowed in concentration. "Apocalypse craves power, but he is a leashed beast."
"Can we… sever the leash?" Michael pressed. "Even for a moment?"
Lyra hesitated, her brow furrowed in thought. "It would be… incredibly dangerous. To interfere with Darkseid's control… it could have unforeseen consequences."
"But it might be our only chance to save Kara," Michael countered, his gaze fixed on the struggling Kryptonian, the light in her eyes dimming with each passing moment.
While the others continued their desperate attempts to distract Darkseid and contain Apocalypse, Michael and Lyra moved with a silent understanding. They channeled their combined primal energies, focusing their intent not on a direct attack, but on subtly disrupting the flow of power between the tyrant and his servant. It was a delicate manipulation, like trying to untangle a cosmic web without alerting the spider at its center.
As their primal energies intertwined, Michael instinctively drew upon his Libriomancy, ancient phrases of rebellion and defiance flickering into his mind. He didn't speak them aloud, but focused their intent, their inherent power to resist tyranny, into the subtle disruption they were weaving.
The effect was subtle at first. Apocalypse, mid-blow against Superman, faltered for a fraction of a second, a flicker of confusion crossing his brutal features. It was enough.
Batman, ever the opportunist, seized the moment. He unleashed a barrage of kryptonite-laced smoke grenades, momentarily disorienting the Apokoliptian tyrant. Superman, recovering from the earlier blow, followed up with a thunderous sonic clap, further disrupting Apocalypse's focus.
In that brief window of vulnerability, as Apocalypse staggered, momentarily severed from Darkseid's direct influence, Michael made his move. He unleashed a focused blast of primal energy, not at Apocalypse himself, but at the invisible tether of control that bound him to his master.
The effect was immediate and violent. Apocalypse roared in pain and confusion, clutching his head as if struck by an invisible force. His red eyes flickered erratically, and the aura of dark energy that surrounded him wavered.
Darkseid's attention, momentarily diverted by the subtle disruption, snapped back with furious intensity. The Omega Beams, which had been focused on Kara, flickered towards Michael, their crimson light burning with a wrath that promised utter annihilation.
"Insolence," Darkseid's voice boomed across the battlefield, a cosmic thunder that shook the very foundations of reality.
Michael stood his ground, his emerald eyes locked on the approaching Omega Beams, his primal energy flaring around him like a defiant shield. He knew this gambit was a razor's edge, but the chance to save Kara, to disrupt Darkseid's control, was worth the risk. The whispers of rebellion, fueled by primal defiance, were about to meet the full force of a cosmic tyrant's wrath.