If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want !
/-\
The Watchtower once a symbol of unyielding defense and justice, now trembled as if it were a living mechanical being, the metal bending under the violence of gods clashing within its halls.
Inside, the battlefield was chaos. Debris floated in shattered chambers, alarms blaring red warnings across the station. And at the center of the maelstrom, two titans tore at one another.
Doom, the violet-eyed shadow of Doomsday, hurled the Black Lantern version of his original self through a wall of reinforced alloy. The impact cracked the Watchtower's plating, a tremor echoing through the void. Black Lantern Doomsday rose immediately, his half-rotted face twisting into a hollow grin, chunks of black flesh reattaching as tendrils of necrotic energy stitched him whole again.
Then they met once more, two forces of destruction colliding with fists that carried the weight of mountains. The shockwave rippled through the station, sending fragments of metal spinning into the void beyond. Every strike was a thunderclap, every grapple a storm.
Doom snarled, violet spikes jutting from his arms, adapting and growing denser with each hit. He caught Black Lantern Doomsday's fist, twisted, and drove his jagged elbow into the creature's ribs. The sickening crunch was followed by Doom lunging forward and literally biting into his enemy's shoulder, tearing free a slab of corrupted flesh. Black ichor spilled out into the airless chamber, floating like an unholy mist.
But then it reattached. The severed flesh writhed like worms, crawling back into place as if nothing had happened. Black Lantern Doomsday only roared, hollow and slammed his head into Doom's face, staggering him backward.
Another collision shook the tower, leaving Raven clutching at the wall, her body trembling from the raw aura both creatures radiated. Her violet eyes widened as she watched them monsters in every sense moving with a savagery that eclipsed anything she had ever faced. Her shadows barely answered her call, recoiling instinctively.
Her lips parted, voice unsteady, laced with awe. "I can't even… get close to them. That power it feels like it would tear me apart the moment I step in."
Martian Manhunter, his form half-visible as he phased to avoid falling debris, observed with a grim calm. His red eyes followed the two monsters as they tore through another bulkhead, their roars shaking the chamber like the wrath of titans.
"So his soldiers are this strong as well…" J'onn's voice was low, realization hitting him hard. "The shadows he commands... If even one can rival A powered-up Doomsday like this…" He didn't finish the thought.
Doom roared, violet energy bursting from his body, locking Black Lantern Doomsday in a grapple. Their fists clashed midair, detonating like bombs, sending shockwaves across the watchtower that splintered steel and bent supports. Violet sparks burned against black corruption, a battle of adaptation and endless regeneration.
Neither monster yielded. Neither monster tired. They tore chunks of each other away, only for the wounds to knit, shadows to regenerate and to grow back stronger. It wasn't a battle of life and death it was destruction personified fighting its own reflection.
Raven noticed Martian Manhunter talking through comms. his voice, was calm yet lined with something Raven rarely heard in him hesitation, came through.
"I see…"
Raven, standing not far from him amidst the flickering alarms and faint tremors of the Watchtower choas, turned her head slightly. Her violet eyes narrowed. That tone measured and restrained, but still surprise was clear on her face, it wasn't common for J'onn J'onzz. And there was only one man who had the ability to make him wear that unreadable, conflicted look.
Batman.
Raven let her gaze rest on the Martian as silence stretched. He gave a slow, almost imperceptible nod to himself before speaking into the comms again. "Very well then."
The channel cut, leaving only the hum of failing systems and the distant thunder of monsters colliding, Doom and the Black Lantern Doomsday shaking the void itself with their exchange of fists.
Martian Manhunter turned his head toward Raven, his green face caught between calm composure and wary concern. "I have already given the order for everyone to leave long before Bruce did," he explained, his voice softer now. "But I did not expect Batman to instruct me to evacuate even myself… and leave this battle to Arthur's shadow alone." His brow furrowed as his gaze flicked toward the titanic clash just beyond them. "Tell me, Raven, will this beast be enough?"
Raven's lips curved faintly, a rare shadow of a smile. She stepped forward, cloak swaying, her eyes never leaving the violent clash of shadow and corpse-monster. "No," she said simply, her voice calm, steady, almost amused at his doubt. "I need to do something as well, otherwise that black lantern will never die for good."
She raised her hand. A small, dark glow pulsed in her palm. At first faint, but then it blossomed, dark and violet, a strange harmony between shadow and light. The ring slid fully onto Raven's finger, and the change was immediate.
Her body shuddered, her breath catching in her throat as the violet-black glow spread from the band outward, weaving into her very skin before spilling into a uniform dark as the void, threaded with faint veins of violet light. The insignia of Arthur's Shadow Corps pulsed against her chest, alien and solemn, as though it had always belonged there.
Raven's eyes snapped open, glowing with an intensity that made the very shadows around her recoil. The Watchtower trembled faintly, the ring's energy saturating the air, pressing down on the space like an invisible storm.
And then, her voice spoke, unbidden.
Her lips parted, but what came out was not thought, nor her intent, it was instinct foreced by the ring, a chant.
"I was the light that chose the fall,
Now crowned in death, I judge them all.
No heaven's call shall break my path,
For I am dread, and I am wrath.
None will escape my watchful eyes,
By my command, the dead shall Arise..."
Her tone was steady and resonant, as if the ring itself had pulled the words from the deepest pit of her soul. The glow from her eyes reached a blinding peak with the final line, before fading into a steady, violet glow.
Silence followed, thick and unsettling.
J'onn J'onzz's red eyes narrowed. For a moment, he simply stared at her, unblinking, as though trying to comprehend what he had just witnessed. The Martian's voice was calm when he finally spoke.
"An unfamiliar Lantern oath…" he said softly, more to himself than her. His gaze shifted from the ring to Raven's face, his expression that of confusion. "So… Blackwynd's shadow ring seems like… a new order with the same rules as every other Corps."
Raven blinked rapidly, her breath uneven as the glow from her eyes dimmed. Confusion swept over her face, then embarrassment as if she'd been caught revealing too much of herself.
"What… what did I just say?" she whispered, her voice low, uncertain. Her hands hovered uselessly in the air, staring at the ring as though it had betrayed her now.
J'onn tilted his head, his voice a deep hum. "You recited a vow of power, something only Lantern corps possess. Yet this was no Green oath, nor Blue, nor any other I've known in my lifetime. It came from within you… but it was forged by him... Arthur."
Her lips pressed tight, her chest rising with restrained breaths. She gave a small, uneasy laugh, though her eyes betrayed nerves. "Great. Arthur did not mention this would happen.." she tugged slightly at the uniform across her shoulders.
The Martian did not laugh. His eyes stayed fixed on her, heavy with quiet concern. "Do not take this lightly, Raven. The ring has recognized you. It has bound you to a creed of its own making. And it seems Arthur Blackwynd's power is far greater than we feared."
Raven stood clothed in something new. A uniform not stitched by mortal hands but born of pure will and shadow. On her chest, burning faintly yet unmistakably, glowed the symbol of the Shadow Corps.
"One thing to note..." J'onn's gaze sharpened, studying her as though trying to peer into the weave of energy itself. "He can fashion rings as well. Much like every other corps across the stars…" He folded his arms, but there was no hiding the gravity in his tone. "This changes much."
Raven looked down at herself, flexing her fingers slowly as the violet glow surged through her veins. "The uniform is a bit too tight for my liking," she admitted, her voice carrying a dry edge of humor despite the storm outside. She lifted her hand and clenched it into a fist, power flaring and crackling around her knuckles. "But… I feel a surge of power like no other."
The Watchtower trembled again, another shockwave from the battle shaking the floor beneath them. Raven's smile faded, replaced with the sharp focus. Her violet glow pulsed brighter.
Martian Manhunter watched her, though his thoughts weighed heavy in the air. 'He is shaping more than shadows now.'
And then, softly, almost to himself, he whispered "Arthur Blackwynd…"
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want