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[b][color=#ffffff]The Savage Land, Antarctica[/color][/b]

Images flicked across a screen. Scenes from Metropolis flashed past, followed by footage of Captain America, Clint Barton, and Diana Prince fighting side-by side, still images of Gotham’s caped crusader at work, and Marville’s protector Thor at battle with the Silver Surfer at The Raft. A red and yellow blur tore through Central City leaving a wave of ne'er do wells in its wake. The inventor Tony Stark, encased in his iron suit, patrolled the skies above New York. The images came to a halt as the Fantastic Four appeared on screen. First Jonathan Storm in conversation with Spider-Woman, then with a click, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and Ben Grimm nursing over him following the scenes at The Raft. With another click the screen turned black and the face of Kal-El appears on the dark screen. He inspects himself for a few moments. With his stubble shorn clean, he cut a more impressive figure than on first arrival on this Earth.

For the past two months, the Savage Land has been the Kryptonian’s home. He had stumbled upon the scientific marvel hidden away by a wall of impenetrable volcanoes – at least, impenetrable for those that lack the strength he possessed in abundance. There existed within the Savage Land’s domain all manner of life, from subspecies of humans long since extinct in the outer world, to prehistoric life forms that defied explanation, and, of course, dinosaurs. All existed in a concert of savagery that lent the kingdom its name. It was, as Kal-El understood, a kingdom in need of a king. And there was no one better equipped to lead it than himself.

There had been some resistance from its inhabitants. The savage Ka-Zar and the so-called “She-Devil” Shanna’s insurrection had proved stubbornly difficult to break. They knew their land better than Kal-El ever would. But the Kryptonian had not concerned himself with that. There were more pressing matters at hand – namely, finding and killing the Fantastic Four and returning to his own world. Every waking moment since he had established his fortress in the Savage Land had been dedicated to studying this world and its champions. To learning how best to bring them to heel should they stand against him. And now Kal-El was so close to launching his opening salvo that he could taste it.

[color=#ffffff]“<My lord,>” Pierre Jardin’s voice called across the Fortress to the Kryptonian. “<It is as you expected. Ka-Zar and Shanna, they are here.>”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]A wry smile appeared on Kal-El’s face. [/color][b][color=#980000]“They will pay for their hubris with their lives – as befalls [i]all [/i]that stand against Darkseid’s will.”[/color][/b]

[color=#ffffff]The Frenchman nodded feebly in response to the comment. He had heard his master use the name Darkseid on a handful of occasions over the past three months. Each time with more reverence than the last. Pierre had learned quickly not to ask questions of his new master or to interrupt him – most of all, to [i]never [/i]refer to him as Superman. Why Kal-El had kept him alive, he had no idea, but on some level he thought [i]wherever [/i]the metahuman had been, he had deprived of company for a lifetime. A thousand lifetime’s perhaps. Now Jardin waited on Kal-El hand and foot. He acted his master’s emissary to those in the Savage Land with the sense to bend the knee to Kal-El of their own volition.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Ka-Zar and Shanna were not in their ranks. Try as Jardin might to reach them, it was clear that they were determined to fight for the Savage Land until the bitter end. Outside the black crystalline fortress that Kal-El had erected at the centre of the wild lands, Ka-Zar and his forces had assembled for what would almost certainly be their final stand. Kal-El walked towards one of the fortresses’ many windows and stared out at the Savage Land’s amassed forces. Dinosaurs taller than buildings waded through the trees with sabretooth tigers and mammoths striding at their side. Kal’s eyes narrowed as he spotted Ka-Zar beside his beloved tiger Sabu. He could have incinerated him there and then – but that would only have emboldened his followers. He needed to be along them, to break them with his bear hands.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“<I made contact with Sauron and his forces earlier this morning,>” Pierre said diligently. “<They are standing by if you need reinforcement.>”[/color]

[b][color=#980000]“Reinforcement? Have I given you reason to think so little of my abilities, Pierre? I could end this charade just as easily as I could break your neck,”[/color][/b][color=#ffffff] Kal grinned as his fingers wrapped tightly around Jardin's throat. [/color][b][color=#980000]”I have allowed that fool Ka-Zar to continue because it suited my aims, but now that the preparations for what come next have been made, it [i]no longer[/i] serves a purpose. And so it will end.”[/color][/b]

[color=#ffffff]Pierre’s face turned from red to blue to a dark purple. Only at the last moment did Kal let his servant free. The Frenchman fell gasping for air on the ground. He watched as the Kryptonian strode through the dark, shiny halls of the fortress, servants bowing as he went, to face down the army awaiting him. As Kal reached the double doors, they flew open and a gust of warm air came flooding in. He stood, alone, and glanced up at the hundreds, if not thousands, of flying dinosaurs and birds congregated above them. The ground shook with each pace the army stepped towards him. Yet the Kryptonian remained with arms folded and allowed the hostile force to draw nearer still.[/color]

A familiar horn blew from the army’s ranks and suddenly the black, winged clouds above the fortress came alive. They dove in unison towards the Kryptonian. Still Kal did not move. His feet were planted to the ground, eyes unblinking as the winged beasts dove towards him, completely unafraid of their approach. A pterodactyl was mere inches from his face when the Kryptonians limbs came to life. His hand clamped around its beak, breaching it into a thousand splinters, and with the other its head came clean off from its neck. A smile appeared on his blood-splattered face as he wound his arms back.

By the time the second horn had sounded, it was too late. Kal’s hands crashed together and the sheer force of the clap seemed to all but liquidate the flying beasts nearest to him. Others were sent careening out of the sky with burst eardrums. A ruthless, incisive blast of heatwave tore through their numbers as Ka-Zar and his ground troops raced to support their winged allies. The tigers arrived first, pouring into Kal-El one after another without an ounce of hesitation. He swatted them away with blows that sent jaws flying clean from their faces and caved in skulls.

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[color=#ffffff]Zabu stayed loyally by his master’s side as the Kryptonian tore his way through the other tigers. Ka-Zar placed a supportive hand on its back, Shanna by his side, as he prepared to address the outsider that had turned the Savage Land into a plaything. He too had once been an outsider to the Savage Land once, but where Ka-Zar had sought only to learn its way and become one with it, this outsider had brought death and destruction in his wake – and he meant to put an end to it whatever the cost. He cleared his throat, shouting in Kal’s direction as the dinosaurs began to reach him.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“You will learn, outsider, as [i]all [/i]that have sought to conquer this land have been forced to learn, that the Savage Land answers to no king. It cannot be conquered or tamed. Man [i]and [/i]beast will give their lives to protect it – and if we fail, long after we are gone others will come in our place to finish what we have begun.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The words seemed to have next to no effect on the Kryptonian. He wrestled with a nearby Tyrannosaurus Rex, prying loose a tooth and sending it jutting through its eyeball, before knocking it clean off its feet with a punch. It went flying in the direction of Ka-Zar and Shanna. They leapt out of its path. Ka-Zar knelt and placed a gentle hand against the dinosaur’s head. Its breathing was weak and laboured, but it was still breathing. Zabu roared and stepped to approach Kal-El, but Ka-Zar quieted the beast with his other hand. He watched as the life slipped out of the dinosaur’s eyes and then patted it gently before rising to his feet.[/color]

“Come then,” Shanna nodded as she produced her spear. “If death is the only language you speak, the Savage Land will gladly meet you in it.”

Ka-Zar and Shanna shared a tender look and then raced towards the Kryptonian. The wildman thought he could feel his heart pounding in his chest but smiled as he realised it was Zabu’s footsteps sounding from beside him. A wave of roaring beasts from all manner of species clashed into Kal-El with a noise so loud it could have have levelled mountains. Shocks of heat wave and punches so fast they were nearly invisible passed through the horde. Blood turned the outsider’s black spires a stained brown. Yet Ka-Zar remained. His knife in hand and tiger at his side, he made his way towards the would-be conquerer undeterred.

The Kryptonian let the wildman stalk towards him. He saw the blade coming but kept his back to it. At the last second, Kal broke towards Shanna, placing her in Ka-Zar’s path. The wildman’s knife sunk into Shanna’s throat forcibly and Kal watched as his foe’s eyes widened with shock. He tried to tug his arm free, but the Kryptonian’s fingers were prised around his wrist. Shanna’s glugged desperately as she tried to reach for the bloody wound at her neck. She fell to the ground with a thud and Kal tossed Ka-Zar aside with a smirk.

A howl of grief left his mouth as he fought to his feet and charged towards the Kryptonian with his bloody knife. Ka-Zar’s howl was met by Zabu, who appeared from the crowd, and the tiger clamped his jaws around Kal’s forearm. Ka-Zar arrived in support half a second afterwards. His knife scraped helplessly against the Kryptonian’s chest and yet he plunged it downwards into him at every turn.

[color=#ffffff]Kal-El's bloody hand clamped around Kazar's face tightly as his lips parted.[/color][b][color=#980000] “Do you understand now? You could never[i] [/i]have beaten me. I am more than you, savage, so much more. You fight for survival, for love, for your land. I fight for Darkseid – the one [i]true[/i] Darkseid.”[/color][/b]

[color=#ffffff]With a tug, the Kryptonian tugged his arm free from Zabu’s mouth. The tiger’s teeth shattered with the force of the move and Kal forced his hand down its throat. With another tug its innards were wrenched outwards. It fell lifeless at his feet and Ka-Zar roared again in pain as he stared down at his now lifeless companion. He struggled helplessly in the Kryptonian’s grasp, knife flailing wildly, as the tears fell from his eyes onto his cheeks. Kal’s smirk disappeared as two of the tears fell onto his face.[/color]

[b][color=#980000]“Command them to stand down,” [/color][/b][color=#ffffff]Kal-El said with a glance to what remained of the army. [/color][b][color=#980000]“Make them stand down and I will spare them.”[/color][/b]

Through bitter tears, the bloodied Ka-Zar let out a defeated laugh. “You didn’t listen to a word I said, did you? I could no longer command them to stand down than I could command the wind to stop blowing or the rain to stop falling to Earth. The Savage Land accepts no masters.”

[b][color=#980000]“So be it,” [/color][/b][color=#ffffff]the Kryptonian murmured as he let his grip around Ka-Zar’s face loosen until the wildman slipped free from his grasp to the ground.[/color]

Kal’s eyes glowed a familiar blood red. Ka-Zar considered launching for a moment one last desperate volley of slashes, but instead tossed the blade aside. He stepped towards Zabu’s lifeless corpse and knelt beside it. One of his bloody hands brushed the beast's eyes closed and he pressed his forehead against the tiger’s with a solemn sigh. When he turned to face the Kryptonian, there was a look of acceptance in his eyes.

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No scream left Ka-Zar’s mouth as the heat vision tore through him. He met his end with a determined silence. His skin turned black and ashen within a tenth of a second and the black dust that billowed to the ground was all that remained of the wildman. The Kryptonian stepped through it, preparing to face down another wave of Ka-Zar’s forces, but found that the beasts had stopped in their tracks. Perhaps from grief, perhaps from fear, they stood unmoving, each eyeing the space where once Ka-Zar had stood. Kal-El’s fists unballed and he lifted a closed fist high above his head. The beasts watched, confused, until the first of the tribesman took a knee. One by one the others followed. The dinosaurs bowed their heads in reverence and beasts rolled onto their back in submission.

[color=#ffffff]Kal-El lowered his fist, wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand, and observed his new subjects with a smile. [/color][b][color=#980000]“Hail Darkseid.”[/color][/b]