Chapter 620: Hunger Incarnate

Oa - The Citadel of the Guardians

The Guardians of the Universe sat in their semicircle, their small blue forms floating above the floor, their eyes fixed on the Lantern who stood before them.

John Stewart stood at attention, his Green Lantern uniform gleaming, his ring glowing faintly on his finger. His expression was calm, but there was a tension in his shoulders.

The lead Guardian spoke first.

"John Stewart. You have returned from Earth with a message from the Shadow Monarch. Deliver it."

John took a breath. Then he spoke, his voice clear and steady.

"Arthur Blackwynd requests cooperation between the Shadow Lantern Corps and the Green Lantern Corps. He is not asking you to fight his battles, he is asking you to keep a close watch on Earth’s sector while he is away."

The Guardians exchanged glances. The lead Guardian’s eyes narrowed.

"While he is away. And where, precisely, is he?"

"He is at war against beings that have been influencing Earth for months." John paused, letting the words sink in. "He is also preparing for an attack from True Darkseid. Not the avatar. The being who exists beyond the physical universe, beyond the reach of any power we possess, I’m sure you know about him."

The chamber fell silent.

Then one of the Guardians smiled.

"He is at war wih everyone it seems. You say he is preparing for the true form of Darkseid and yet he asks us to guard his planet while he is gone?" The Guardian’s voice sharpened, dripping with contempt. "Why would he need our aid when his Corps is already the strongest in the universe? His reach rivals our own. His members are both the living and the dead. His rings draw from the entire emotional spectrum. He has an army of shadows that numbers in the millions.. You understand what we are trying to say, no?"

Another Guardian spoke, her voice just as cold. "Are they truly afraid of a being their leader has already killed? We have watched the Shadow Monarch defeat many and we have watched him seal the Anti-Monitor. And now you tell us he is afraid of someone that can’t really influence this universe without an avatar?"

John’s jaw tightened. His voice was sharp. "If the Shadow Monarch says he is wary of someone then this is a reason for all of us to be concerned. True Darkseid can and will influence this universe with an avatar or without. The one who exists outside the physical universe, he is by every measure we have, more powerful than anything the Shadow Monarch has faced or us."

He paused, his eyes sweeping across the semicircle of Guardians.

"Arthur is not asking for help, he is asking for cooperation. For our Corp to watch Earth while he is away, alongside the Shadow Lanterns. With our combined strength, we would be unstoppable. With our combined strength, we could face whatever comes, I beleive that."

The lead Guardian leaned forward.

"We heard you. And we still cannot neglect the other sectors to focus on one planet. The Shadow Monarch has his foes. That does not mean we need to go on a whim. What if he fails?"

John’s voice was sharp. "If he fails, we all die. Including Oa itself."

The chamber fell silent.

"This threat is a great deal," John continued, "Arthur is not asking for a favor. He is asking for cooperation between two Corps that share a common purpose, the protection of life, the maintenance of peace, the preservation of existence itself."

The lead Guardian’s voice was flat. "You and Hal Jordan can stay on Earth and do what you must. And anyone who desires to aid you. But we cannot command the entire Lantern Corps to be deployed there on an assumption." He paused. "I hope you understand."

John stared at them for a long moment. His hands clenched at his sides. His ring flickered with the intensity of his emotions.

"You don’t understand a thing," he said quietly. "You’ve been sitting on this planet for eons, watching the universe from a distance, convincing yourselves that you’re the only ones who can maintain order. But you’re not. The Shadow Monarch has done more in little time than you’ve done in millennia. He’s killed The tyrant Darkseid and he has created a Corps that rivals our own and he’s done it without your approval, without your oversight, without your permission."

He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"I’m just a human but I have a good memory, so I’ll remind you that he was the reason we prevailed against The Blackest night. And now, when he asks for cooperation, not help or submission and you still refuse. You refuse because you’re afraid. You’re afraid of a being who has done what you could not. You’re afraid of a being who has proven that your way is not the only way. You’re afraid of a being who has shown the universe that the Guardians are not the only ones who can protect it."

The Guardians were silent. John turned and walked out of the Citadel without another word.

John stood on the steps of the Citadel, looking out at the green-tinged sky of Oa, his ring glowing faintly on his finger. His voice was quiet, bitter.

"I should have listened to Hal. This was a waste of time."

He looked down at his ring, one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, the symbol of willpower, the badge of the Green Lantern Corps.

"You’re lucky I understand what this ring means far better than you guys," he said to the ring. "Otherwise I would have thrown it away and exchanged it for a black one."

He flew away, his form a streak of green light against the alien sky.

The Guardians sat in silence.

"What do we do?" one of them asked.

"Nothing." the lead Guardian said.

"And if the Shadow Monarch fails?"

Silence.

"Then we will face the same fate as everyone else, just Like John Stewart said."

They looked at each other, and for the first time in eons, there was real fear in their eyes, something even Parallax didn’t manage to make them feel.

They knew what kind of being True Darkseid was.

They knew what kind of being the Shadow Monarch was.

And they knew that the coming days would tell what sort of fate this universe would face.

.

.

.

.

The World of Chaos - The Monarchs’ Pavilion

Arthur stood at the edge of the pavilion, looking out at the horizon.

The sky was calm. The armies were resting, everything was quiet, and yet he could tell something was wrong.

He couldn’t place it. Couldn’t name it. But there was a subtle pressure against his senses, a whisper at the edge of his consciousness that he couldn’t quite hear.

He frowned.

"What is it?" Raven asked, stepping beside him.

Arthur was silent for a moment. Then he shook his head.

"Nothing," he said. "Probably nothing."

He turned away from the horizon.

But the feeling didn’t leave him for a long time.

Until a time where the sky was way too calm in this chaotic world, that was the first thing Arthur noticed. The World of Chaos was never calm. Its sky churned with impossible colors, its ground shifted between terrains that defied logic, its very air hummed with the residual energy of a world that had been shaped and reshaped by forces beyond mortal understanding and endless wars. But now it was still. The colors had faded to a dull grey.

Arthur’s ashen hair moving gently in a wind that seemed to come from nowhere. His violet eyes were fixed on the horizon, their glow steady and calm before a storm he could feel but not yet see.

He closed his eyes and his senses expanded outward, past the pavilion, past the plateau, past the armies that stretched across the plains of the dead world. He felt the ice elves and the beast-kin, the giants and the insectoid horrors, the Shadow Legion and the he felt his Marshals, and the soldiers he sent to scout, each one a bright point of violet fire in the darkness of his awareness. He felt the Monarchs, Raven and Kara, Clark and Zatanna, Beast Boy and Frost, their presences warm and familiar around him.

And then he felt something else.

It was distant, but it was vast, a presence so ancient, so immense, so utterly beyond anything he had ever encountered that it made the Monarchs feel like candles before a supernova.

It was hunger incarnate.

Arthur’s eyes snapped open.

And for the first time in a very, very long time, his violet gaze widened with surprise.

"This level of power..." His voice was quiet, almost to himself. "I’ve felt this before. Once. In the World Tree. When I claimed the mantle of the Shadow Monarch."

He paused.

"But that was only a replica. A test, a being born of the Great Darkness, tasked with testing the worth of those who would claim the throne of the monarchs." His jaw tightened. "This is the real deal."

/-\

If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Shadow Monarch: In One Piece / The Witcher: Heir of Fire!

&

You can Get Access to 7 More Chapters on all of my stories!