He mocked a god.
Flipped off a tyrant.
Laughed in the face of domination.
Now?
The Maze laughs back.
And Elias — for the first time — feels something alien.
Powerlessness.
Location: Apokolips – The Maze of Submission
The fall is endless.
The sky above vanishes. There is no ground. Just shadow twisting with memory, emotion, and Anti-Life constructs — a labyrinth that feeds on the invader's will.
Elias crashes hard, rolling onto blood-wet stone.
[System Alert]
• Core Power Level Reduced: -87%
• Omega Manipulation: Locked
• System Assistance: Nullified (by external cosmic force)
• Trial Penalty Active: "You wanted smoke. Here's the fire."
Elias groans and stands slowly, already bleeding.
"Didn't expect customer service down here anyway…"
The Maze Begins
Walls rearrange. Echoes of screams loop endlessly. Shadows of Elias's past foes flicker in the corners — Zauriel, Superman, even a twisted version of himself.
And for twelve hellish hours, Elias fights:
• Blindfolded against mirror duplicates.
• Chained to enemies he's killed — and forced to protect them.
• Mocked by Darkseid's voice narrating his every mistake:
"You are not a god. You are a joke with potential."
Every strike Elias throws lands softer. Every wound cuts deeper. There's no healing here. No system shortcuts.
He bleeds.
He suffers.
He stumbles.
But he doesn't beg.
Not once.
The Final Chamber – The Tap of Judgment
Exhausted. Burned. Bones cracked.
Elias limps into the final chamber.
At its center — waiting — is Darkseid himself.
Not a projection. Not a dream.
The real deal.
Elias snarls, fists raised.
"I'm not done."
Darkseid doesn't move.
"You never began."
Then he does something Elias didn't expect.
He steps forward.
And with one hand, calmly…
Taps Elias on the forehead.
Tap.
The Omega symbol scorches across Elias's skin — not with energy, but with truth.
"You're a child with teeth, Elias," Darkseid says, coldly.
"You wear power like stolen armor. Until you understand what it means to truly rule…"
"…you are beneath even my shadow."
Elias collapses.
Not from pain.
From realization.
He's not ready.
Not yet.
Boom Tube – Return to Earth
The Maze resets. The fire closes. And Elias is thrown from the portal like garbage tossed from the throne.
He crashes into the Watchtower's outer wall.
Alarms blare.
The League races out.
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter — all surrounding the crater Elias made with his fall.
He's motionless. Burned. Barely conscious.
But grinning.
Elias lifts his head slowly, blood pouring from his nose.
"Okay… okay…"
He coughs hard.
"Maybe he earned the throne."
He reaches into his shredded coat, pulls out a crushed Apokoliptian pebble, and throws it at Superman's boot.
"Before you say anything, Clark… I slapped that god first."
Superman crosses his arms. "And then?"
Elias flips over in the crater, giving a sarcastic thumbs-up.
"…he slapped back."
Justice League Medbay – Later
Elias is suspended in a healing pod. The League watches from behind glass.
Diana: "He went alone into Apokolips… insulted Darkseid… and somehow survived?"
Batman, reviewing scans: "Barely. His powers are suppressed. His neural pattern's been tampered with."
Cyborg frowns. "He got nerfed."
Superman mutters, arms folded: "Maybe now he'll shut up."
Inside the pod, Elias's eyes snap open.
He hears that.
He smirks weakly through the oxygen mask.
"Never."
System Update (Visible Only to Elias)
[Trial Complete]
• Omega Lock: Partial
• Power Restriction: Lifted in 4 days
• Ego Reduction: Failed
• New Passive: "Darkseid's Scar" – Increases resistance to cosmic suppression
• You have been judged unworthy — and lived. That makes you dangerous.