Max's first thought as he stared at the figure before him was simple and impossible to ignore: Why is Jean Grey here?
The woman standing amidst the fading fire was unmistakably bonded to the Phoenix Force. Flames still curled faintly around her body; her control over them was absolute. She radiated power—terrifying and magnificent—and yet her eyes carried a calm steadiness that was almost disarming.
The fires around them continued to burn low, crackling softly as they died down, leaving the ruined village in silence. For a long moment, neither Max nor the woman spoke. They simply regarded one another: he, encased in emerald light; she, wrapped in celestial fire.
At last, Max broke the silence. "Please don't tell me you're here to destroy the planet."
The red-haired woman tilted her head slightly, an amused smile touching her lips. "Why would you think that?"
Max folded his arms, his emerald aura brightening defensively. "Because you're bonded with the Phoenix Force. And it's… well known for its destructive tendencies."
Her laugh rang out, clear and melodic, carried strangely by the still night. "You're not wrong."
"But you have nothing to fear from me, Green Lantern. I have quelled its 'destructive tendencies' as you called it."
"Good," Max said, relieved by her response. "Because I'm not sure I could fight you and win."
She stepped closer, her fiery aura dimming further until only faint motes of light shimmered around her. Her eyes, once blazing white-gold, softened into a glow that pulsed gently. "You have nothing to fear from me, Lantern," she said. "I'm hunting a beast, the one responsible for turning these innocents into monsters."
"Vampires," Max said grimly.
She nodded, her expression curious. "Is that what they're called?"
Max glanced around at the ashen remains of the village. The orb of light he'd made still illuminated the burned settlement. He turned back to her and realized she knew who he was. "Wait…how do you know who I am?"
Her smile grew faint. "The Phoenix knows much."
"I see. Well, I'm at a disadvantage here. You already know who I am, but I don't know who you are."
The woman lowered her gaze, her voice soft but clear. "My name is Firehair."
Max studied her for a beat before smiling again. "A fitting name," he said honestly.
The corner of her mouth twitched upward, though she gave no reply, only fixed him with those burning, watchful eyes.
Max cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "Do you know what's happening here? What happened to the villagers?"
Firehair's expression darkened. "I do. I've been hunting the creature that caused this misery and more in these lands."
"What is it?" Max asked, his tone sharpening.
"I don't know yet," she admitted, her fists clenching faintly. "It hides. But I know this: it is one of many beings that threaten this world, beings that prey upon the innocent." She lifted her chin, her aura of fire flaring again with quiet resolve. "I have vowed to protect this world."
"Then we're in the same business. Protection. Earth needs all it can get."
Her eyes softened slightly. "I know. In fact, I was planning to seek you out, Lantern to gather you and others I've sensed, those with power enough to stand against what is coming."
Max raised an eyebrow. "Something… coming?"
"Yes," Firehair said simply. "Something even I, with the full strength of the Phoenix, cannot overcome alone."
Max let out a slow sigh, rubbing his forehead. "Figures. I guess that's another world-ending threat for the list."
How many was it again Mephisto,Kree and now this mysterious threat as well…
"So will you join me Green Lantern and help me gather the others"
Her words shook Max from his thoughts.
"Oh.. yeah sure…and you don't have to go searching that much. There's already a small group of us gathered to fight a threat posed by some interdimensional beings, so you can join us."
She gave a small nod, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Then that makes things easier. After we hunt this beast down, I shall join you."
"Fine by me," Max said, straightening and cracking his knuckles.
I can go get Nur,Khenmet and Azzuri as well, since Odin will be coming back with Ghost.
Fuck—this team is going to be so overpowered.
"You've been at this longer than me, so lead the way." said Max with a gesture.
Firehair nodded once, then launched into the air, trailing embers behind her.
Max grinned and kicked off the ground, emerald light flaring as he rose to follow.
=====
They flew low over the forest. The moon had vanished behind thick clouds, plunging the woods into near-total darkness, their light the only thing breaking the pitch-black night. Firehair burned like a comet; Max's emerald glow shone steady beside her.
Strange shift in the weather Max thought, narrowing his eyes. Too sudden—too unnatural.
"Max," Jade chimed in his mind, her tone clipped. "I'm detecting energy signatures similar in nature to sorcery. It's very faint, but present."
"Yeah," Max said grimly. "Get some countermeasures ready, just in case."
"Acknowledged."
Firehair dropped suddenly, landing in a crouch on the forest floor. Max descended behind her. To his surprise, Firehair immediately sank lower, her fingers brushing the dirt. She moved like a predator. In the eerie half-light, she could have been mistaken for a wolf preparing to spring.
Max blinked, watching her prowl around. Uh… okay.
"It's been here," Firehair said, certainty lacing her voice.
"Did you find any Tracks?" Max asked, scanning the ground.
She tilted her head, nostrils flaring slightly. "Faint. Almost erased. But I can feel its presence. It hides well… too well." Rising, she pointed north into the blackness. "That way."
Max sighed, lifting his ring. "Let me try something else."
With a thought, hundreds of tiny drones burst forth from his ring emerald sparks fanning out into the woods like fireflies, drifting between the trees in every direction.
He and Firehair pressed onward, the only sound was the crunch of branches beneath their feet. Jade's voice returned after several minutes of silence.
"Scans reveal nothing unusual. No life forms beyond the expected fauna."
"Really?" Max frowned. "Nothing at all?"
Firehair shook her head. "Like I told you, this beast cloaks itself. It's as though it becomes one with the night itself. It—"
She froze mid-sentence as if she felt the presence of something. Max felt it too a ripple of killing intent crawling up his spine.
"Max!" Jade's warned. "Behind you!"
Max's reflexes surged. He willed a shield into existence, snapping it wide around both himself and Firehair just as something slammed against it with bone-raking claws.
A shape, blacker than shadow, writhed against the green barrier, then dissolved into mist hissing, snarling, and vanishing back into the forest's suffocating dark.
"What was that?" Max muttered, eyes narrowing at the shifting dark around them.
"The prey we hunt," Firehair answered calmly, her white-hot eyes never leaving the tree line.
Max exhaled sharply. "Yeah, well I'm starting to feel like we're the prey here." His gaze swept the pitch-black forest as he called out in his mind, Jade, where is it?
Jade's voice was tight. "I only felt its presence at the last second. It's cloaked using some form of magic."
Max scowled. "It's always fucking cloaking. Every. Single. Time."
The forest responded as if mocking him. The light around them dimmed unnaturally, the shadows thickening into something almost physical. The night swallowed the world whole branches overhead turned into jagged silhouettes, and from every direction came sounds: whispers like rustling leaves, guttural snarls, an unseen predator circling, closing in. But Max and Firehair stood unfazed. As the weight in the air pressed down like a suffocating blanket, what he felt was not fear. It was irritation. And Max sensed the fiery redhead beside him felt the same.
Then it struck. A pressure slammed into Max's skull like claws dragging across his mind. He hissed, clutching his head as Jade's voice cut in, sharp and mechanical.
Max groaned, rubbing his temple. "Great. Did Someone just try to fuck with my head."
"Yes. Telepathic assault. Successfully neutralized."
Beside him, Firehair said nothing. She remained perfectly still, shoulders taut, eyes glowing hotter. Her gaze pierced the blackness. Then, in a low voice, she said, "It comes once more."
The darkness rippled as another attack came for them. Max's patience snapped. With a thought, his ring flared, forming a glowing emerald hilt in his hand. A lightsaber hissed into existence. He swung once, and the dark presence shrieked, recoiling as if wounded, before melting back into the tree line.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Max growled, lowering the saber but not dismissing it. His eyes swept the dark. "I swear, I've got half a mind to tell you to burn this entire forest down, Firehair. Solve the problem in one big bonfire."
"I will not allow needless loss of life, Lantern."
Suddenly, laughter rang out, echoing from everywhere and nowhere at once.
The shadows thickened, the forest air turned heavy, and a voice slithered into their ears:
"It seems we are at a stalemate… so why don't we simply part ways? You leave me to my dominion, and I shall let you live."
Max snorted, tightening his grip on the emerald lightsaber. "A stalemate? Buddy, I don't think you know what that word means. Pretty sure I've got the upper hand here." He smirked. "Why don't you stop hiding like a coward and come talk to us face-to-face?" Max's voice turned mocking. "Or are you too scared to do that?"
The laughter turned into a guttural growl.
"You dare mock me?" The voice rose like thunder, the shadows pulsing with it. "Blustering worm. I am Varnae! I watched and snickered as your savage ancestors gnawed their civilization from the bones of the old gods. To one who has survived the death of continents, you are less than an amusement. And perhaps… a snack."
The blackness rippled, and Max swore he could see a pale, distorted face flicker in the dark.
"I am the greatest sorcerer of Atlantis, tamer of the Darkhold! Chosen of Chthon the First of the Undead! I wonder how you will taste, green one… Or perhaps I should taste the firebird beside you. Her flame would warm me for an eternity."
"Chthon… great. Another one for the 'interdimensional assholes' list," Max muttered.
Firehair's eyes locked on the darkness, her aura flaring as she growled low in her throat. "You shall be judged for your crimes by the Phoenix's flames, beast."
Max's annoyance grew as Varnae's shadowy form darted around them once more.
"Okay… that's it. I've had enough of this shit," Max said. Raising his fist, he sent his emerald orb of light rocketing skyward. The sphere swelled, growing brighter and higher, until it radiated across the tree line like a miniature sun.
Beside him, Firehair's lips curled into a knowing smile. "I shall join as well, Lantern."
She raised her hands, summoning a blazing orb of fire golden-red and white-hot and cast it upward.
"Let us join together," she said. Max nodded. They combined their spheres of light. The two spheres of flame and will merged, intertwining into one radiant star.
The forest was bathed in brilliance. Shadows fled. The night was driven back, replaced with the scorching clarity of midday.
Max's eyes instantly locked onto movement—Varnae, no longer hidden, skulking at the edge of the light. The creature's true form was grotesque: half ape, half bat, its twisted frame hunched forward, fangs bared, eyes burning with malice.
With a snarl, it hissed and lunged. Max responded first, firing emerald blasts, but Varnae whipped up dark shields of sorcery, scattering the energy. His body twisted, wings tearing free from his back as he rose into the air, monstrous and hideous.
Firehair stepped forward, taking the lead, and Max powered down, wanting to see what she could do.
Firehair's voice rang out like a vow: "The Phoenix's flame has no equal. And you, beast, are no match for it!"
She unleashed a torrent of white-gold fire. Varnae shrieked as the flames pierced his defenses, clinging to his body, devouring his flesh. His bat-like frame withered and crumbled, collapsing into burning ash. It was not over: a black mist surged upward from the remains, desperate to escape, shrieking wordless fury as it scattered on the wind.
Firehair would not allow it. She raised her hand, eyes blazing, and loosed one final burst of Phoenix fire. The celestial flame struck the mist and, in an instant, vaporized it, leaving nothing behind—not even the echo of his presence.
Max whistled low, hands resting on his hips. "Well… that was amazing."
Firehair turned her glowing gaze toward him, her expression softening just enough for the faintest trace of satisfaction to show. "Thank you."
The false sun they made faded. Firehair looked to Max, her white-gold eyes still glowing faintly.
"We should search for more of his thralls," she said. "Or… vampires, as you call them."
Max gave a sharp nod. "Yeah. No point leaving any of them crawling out of the dark later. Let's meet back by that big hill to the north."
She inclined her head once, then, in a rush of flame, took to the sky. Max followed her a moment with his eyes, then banked south, emerald light cutting through the forest below.
The forest gave way to crags and ravines until Max's scans pulled him toward a vast cave system hidden in the mountainside. Even before he entered, he had Jade scan it and found dozens of vampires inside. Inside, the cavern was unnervingly… lived in: furniture made from bone and stone, crude banners stained black, and alcoves where vampires nested like bats. Fifty, maybe more. Their red eyes lit one by one as they hissed, shrieking with hunger.
This must have been Varnae's home.
Max raised both hands. Twin streams of emerald fire burst forth, consuming them in sheets of light. Some tried to swarm him, but more constructs formed large flamethrowers as he burned them all. Within minutes, it was over. Max sealed the cave and collapsed the roof. Stone thundered down, burying the lair forever.
When he returned to the northern hill, Firehair was already there, waiting as the first rays of dawn spilled over the horizon. Her flaming aura was faint now, just a whisper of light around her.
Max landed beside her. "Found their lair. They've been dealt with."
Firehair's expression softened with approval. "Good. I found none. Then our efforts tonight have made this land safe."
Max exhaled slowly. "For now."
"Yes," she agreed, gazing toward the horizon. "More will always come."
He studied her carefully. "Earlier you mentioned… a threat. Something big. What did you mean?"
Firehair's expression changed to one of wariness. "When I bonded with the Phoenix, I saw visions. Endless visions. Many threats to this world. But one… one so vast I saw the Earth itself being destroyed. Even with the power of the Phoenix, I do not know if I can overcome it."
What could it be? Is it Mephisto? Is that what she saw? Or is something worse and more powerful coming for Earth? Max wondered.
"Well, good thing there are others like us. People who can be protectors of this world." He extended a hand. "Like I said before, there are already some gathered together, and I know three more who can join us. So will you join us."
Firehair did not hesitate. She took his hand firmly.
"I will join you."
.
.
.
Egypt
En Sabah Nur
"The crop yields have been more than expected, my lord," one of his most trusted lieutenants reported with pride.
En Sabah Nur sat upon his stone seat, listening, nodding only once with a trace of a smile.
"Good," he said at last, his voice deep and commanding. "Then we will hold the Harvest Festival next moon. A grand gathering of the clans shall be organzied."
His council murmured approval. The thought of overflowing granaries and celebrations lit their eyes. Nur dismissed them with a wave of his hand, and the men bowed low before departing.
He sat a while longer before deciding to head out as well. He stepped outside into the light of the desert sun.
What lay before him was not the nomad encampment he had grown up with. Nearly three years ago, when he expressed his desire to settle his clan, the Lantern had led him to lands fertile beyond measure where the rivers kissed the earth and the soil gave more than it took. Now, a thousand of his people thrived here.
Mud-brick houses lined orderly paths; smoke rose from communal hearths; children's laughter carried on the air. People looked up as he passed, bowing their heads in reverence, some calling his name in devotion:
"En Sabah Nur! En Sabah Nur!"
He did not smile, but the iron in his heart softened as he walked.
Seeking solitude, he left the settlement behind and made his way to the riverbank.
The water glimmered in the sun, clear and calm a mirror to the sky above. Nur stretched out his hand, and massive boulders nearby shuddered, lifting into the air as if weightless. They hung there for a time, then settled gently into a pattern he deemed fitting.
He sat on one, listening to the water's song. Peace, yes. His people were thriving. And yet…
His heart still yearned for battle. Baal had made him for it: war was the forge of strength, the crucible of destiny. But if he had truly followed Baal's teachings, he would not have made this heaven for his clan. No, the path he had chosen was not Baal's.
It was the Lantern's.
Max. The Green Lantern or Ta Khetu as his people, and many in Khem had begun to call him; some had even started to worship him.
The one who had shown him there was another way.
Perhaps… Nur thought, perhaps I should seek him again. Grow stronger still.
His generals could rule in his stead. The alliances he had built with nearby settled clans meant no raiders dared approach.
He was weighing what to do when he saw it: a point of green light streaking across the sky descending, growing brighter.
Nur rose to his feet as he watched the sky. It was one of Max's emerald constructs.
It was of strange design, long and sleek, with four wheels at the front and back. To his eyes, it looked like a roofless, strangely shaped chariot.
As it descended, Nur saw more clearly. Seated at its front was Max, hands gripping some strange handle that bent the chariot to his will. Beside him was a beautiful woman with skin pale as ivory and hair burning red like the sun at dusk. She sat at ease, the wind flowing through her flame-colored locks.
The emerald construct came to rest before him, its light bathing the earth around it.
Max turned to look at Nur, grinning as he leaned out of the construct.
"Get in, Nur. We've got a world to save."