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A long silence followed after Ganthet's words.
Sayd's voice came soft, almost reluctant. "There is also the matter of the Earthling… the Shadow Lantern, Arthur Blackwynd."
That drew more muttering, some approval, more suspicion.
"He is no Green Lantern. He bends powers that are far too dangerous, far too mysterious, he devours the very emotional spectrum."
"And yet," Ganthet said, his eyes flickering to each of his brethren, "it is his power that has cut their rings. His constructs that shred the black bonds when even a combined charge of green and blue falters. You may fear him. I see a weapon the Black cannot ignore."
A Guardian floated a little higher, robe stirring. "And if this… Arthur Blackwynd is a weapon we cannot control later on?"
"Then better he be on the battlefield than at its fringes," Ganthet replied without flinching. "The Black Lanterns are gathering for a reason. They think Earth is a soft point, or perhaps a keystone. Either way, we cannot scatter now. I say we send them every Lantern willing and able..to Earth."
A hum of dissent rippled through the chamber. Some shook their heads, some muttered warnings of overreach and precedent. Others, grim-faced, nodded in agreement as the weight of inevitability settled upon them, there was no other choice.
Finally, the eldest among them let his shoulders slump. "A vote, then. We delay no further."
The glow of the hall dimmed as each Guardian cast their will into the decision. When the light steadied once more, the outcome was plain.
"They will go," said Sayd, her voice barely above a whisper.
Ganthet gave a single, solemn nod. "So be it. If anything can turn this night, it will be that world. And if anything can finish it…" His gaze turned distant, as though he could see through the emerald walls, through the stars, all the way to that troubled blue sphere. "…it will be one of their own."
****
EARTH -
The world was on fire, but it refused to fall.
Above Metropolis, the sky was a mass of black and violet, shadow constructs clashing with the twisted, skeletal forms of the Black Lanterns. Across the globe, the same story played out: streaks of violet light carving through an endless storm of death. From Tokyo to Paris, from the Amazon to Gotham's broken streets, the dead rose and the living roared in a battle against them.
Superman shot past a crumbling skyscraper, his cape a torn red comet as his fist drove through the chest of a Black Lantern construct. The corpse split apart like rotted wood under the blow, its ring shrieking a fractured pulse before a sudden wash of violet energy swallowed it whole. The ring cracked, imploded, and fell lifeless to the ground.
Kara landed beside him, her own knuckles scorched from the last clash. "We're pushing them back," she said, her breath coming fast but steady. "Look around you we're actually overpowering them." Her blue eyes flicked to the ring fragments smoking on the asphalt. "And those rings… they're breaking easier when Arthur's shadow lantern hit them. Way easier."
Superman followed her gaze, catching the blur of a shadow lantern tearing through a cluster of undead on the far side of the avenue. The violet-black aura it left behind burned cold in the air, and every Black Lantern it touched shattered.
Before he could answer, a voice crackled through the League's comms, calm even during this choas. Batman.
"Those rings aren't just breaking because of brute force," Bruce explained, his voice riding the static of battle. "Arthur's shadow lantern rings carry an amalgam of the emotional spectrum. Multiple energies layered, destabilizing the black rings' black energy of death. They're being overwhelmed from within."
Kara raised a brow, still catching her breath. "Are you saying... what exactly?"
A pause. Then Batman, dry as ever: "No. It doesn't mean they're stronger than you Kara. It means they're a natural countermeasure for the black lanterns."
Superman's lips quirked into a brief, dangerous smile as he turned and hurled another Black Lantern through a crumbling building. "She didn't say that.. but they do give that feeling sometimes.." he muttered, just loud enough for Kara to hear.
All around, shadows surged like a true force, Arthur's legion pouring through the streets, violet and black and utterly unyielding.
****
Far away, the Titans fought tooth and nail in Jump City. The bridge was littered with husks, their rings screeching as Starfire's bolts, Blue Beetle's cannons, and Robin's precise strikes tore into the black lantern ranks.
Raven stood in the center, her hood shadowing tired, pale features as her shadow ring flared, cutting down Black Lantern after Black Lantern with cold precision. The air stank of rot and decay. Doom loomed behind her, his massive form a silent guardian, crushing anything that got too close.
A nearby explosion sent Beast Boy tumbling into cover beside her, his green skin streaked with grime as he shifted back from a falcon to his human form. He grinned despite the exhaustion in his eyes. "So… uh, any chance you could put in a good word with your boyfriend?" he panted, jerking his thumb toward the carnage her shadows left in their wake. "I could use a ring like that. I'm thinking… Beast Lantern. Has a nice ring to it, right?"
Raven side-glanced at him, the corner of her lip twitching though no smile followed. Her face was pale, dark crescents heavy beneath her eyes. "Not the time," she murmured, her voice low, the fatigue threading through it like smoke.
"Yeah," Beast Boy said, rolling his shoulders as he shifted into a gorilla and barreled back into the fray. "Figured I'd ask before we all die heroically."
Cyborg, overhead, barked a laugh despite the fight. "Classic Gar. But seriously when will this end."
Starfire hurled a blast that tore through a wave of corpses, her hair a streak of burning fire. "Perhaps if we live through this," she called over, "you may petition him yourself."
Doom loomed closer to Raven as another wave were in the sky, his silent presence like a wall of stone.
For now, they held the line and in the distance, where the sky darkened unnaturally, the shadows of Arthur's legion were carrying their Monarch's will.
****
PLANET RYUT -
Scar lurched forward, her once cunning, sinister eyes now blank pools of black flame. Her skin stretched tight over bone, lips peeled back in a grotesque sneer, and each movement left trails of oozing black ichor in the dust.
Arthur's gaze hardened. His violet eyes flickered with disdain. "You were twisted before, Guardian… but now?" His shadow flared like a living storm around him. "Now you're just an ugly, hollow sad thing."
Scar lunged, shrieking a wail that carried the echoes of the Battery's will. Black energy clawed at the air. Arthur's shadow ring pulsed, and his hand swept up in a blur, catching her attack with a wall of shadow constructs that shattered the blast into drifting shards.
The next moment, he was already behind her. His boot slammed down on her half-reformed face, grinding it into the cracked soil with a crunch that sent chunks of black ooze spilling from her jaw. Her claws flailed up, reforming even as they broke apart.
Another black ring screeched through the air Arthur caught it with shadow energy and crushed it between his fingers before it could latch onto her corpse again. His jaw clenched. "Third time," he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else, his voice a dark, simmering growl. "How many more, Nekron? Is this your grand plan to keep tossing scraps in my path, hoping I'll trip over them?"
Silence. Only the constant faint sound of the Black Central Power Battery answered him… and the hollow, mirthless laugh of Black Hand echoing in the haze.
"Ha… ha-ha…" Black Hand staggered forward, his flesh riddled with cracks of black light, half his face split from earlier blows. "You can't stop it… you'll drown in them."
Arthur's head tilted slightly, eyes narrowing with cold amusement. The Promethium sword shimmered into being at his side, then it shot forward like a bolt of midnight steel. It pierced Black Hand's skull with a wet crunch, pinning him to the jagged stone behind him.
The laugh turned to a gurgle, yet still the corpse refused to fall. His fingers twitched, his jaw moved weakly, and his head lolled around the blade.
Arthur didn't even spare him a glance. His boot pushed off Scar's twitching form as it knitted itself once more. He vaulted into the air, cloak snapping, violet light streaming from his ring as massive shadow hands, clawed erupted again.
They wrapped around the Black Central Power Battery, their claws biting deep into its shield of black energy.
"Let's see how long this little shell holds," Arthur muttered, teeth bared as he poured everything he had into the grip. His ring burned bright violet tendrils spilling like veins up his arm, his bones vibrating beneath the strain.
Cracks splintered the barrier fine hairline fractures at first, then spreading, glowing with a dim black mist as the Battery groaned under the pressure.
Scar's shriek rose again behind him as she lunged, jaw slack, one arm hanging like a broken reed. Arthur barely glanced over his shoulder. His fist clenched Ruler's Authority surged outward, an invisible force smashing her back into the rock with bone-snapping force.
Sweat ran down his face. The Doomsday bone gauntlet formed over his free hand, jagged and bristling with spikes. And he swung.
The gauntlet slammed into the barrier with the weight of a meteor, the shockwave blasting the ground apart beneath his feet. A thunderous crack echoed black lightning spiderwebbed across the barrier.
Arthur's grin was sharp, feral, teeth glinting under the sickly black glow. "About time. This will end one way or another."
/-\
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