Chapter 236: The Shadow Phenonon
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OA -
The skies above Oa glowed brighter than they ever had before. Erald light stretched across the horizon like a living aurora, thousands of Green Lanterns floating in precise formations around the Central Battery. The Citadel lood at the heart of it all, ancient and unyielding, pulsing with the steady beat of willpower.
Hal Jordan hovered among them, his ring dimr than usual but steady, his eyes scanning the crowd of comrades. So Lanterns still bore scars, armor fractured, flesh marked from the war that nearly ended them all. He saw Kilowog standing tall despite burns across his shoulder, Arisia holding herself together, Tomar-Re with a tired look in his eyes. These were survivors. Every single one of them.
Then the Guardians appeared. A ring of robed figures floating above the Corps, their cold blue eyes casting down judgnt and ceremony. But it was not all of them who spoke. From the circle, Ganthet moved forward, his voice resonating across the endless gathering.
"Lanterns of the Corps... Today, you stand as proof that even in the deepest shadow, will endures." His tone was uncharacteristically warm, and it carried with it sothing almost foreign to the Guardians: gratitude. "The Blackest Night fell upon us all, not just a single sector, not just Oa, but the universe entire. Entire sectors burned. Countless lives were lost. Even here, the heart of the Corps was stained by betrayal."
Whispers rippled across the formation, but no Lantern dared speak aloud. Ganthet raised his hand, and his gaze hardened.
"The traitor known as Scar was the hand that turned against us. She who sat among us, cloaked in false wisdom, conspired with Nekron himself. It was she who tore open the Sciencells and loosed horrors upon the stars. She who acted as the pawn to summon the Blackest Night."
The silence deepened. So Guardians stiffened at his words, their faces betraying disapproval. They had not wanted this spoken openly. But Ganthet pressed on.
"You deserved the truth. And the truth is this: though the Blackest Night was inevitable, it was through your will, through your unity, and through the courage of mortals... that it was broken."
The Corps roared with light, rings sparking erald fire into the skies. The sound of it was like a storm, alive with triumph. Ganthet waited for it to die down before his eyes moved directly toward Hal Jordan.
"And not to ntion," he added, voice resonant, "the efforts of our Greatest Lantern Hal Jordan, and the Shadow Lantern. One we were misled to hunt, when in truth, his role was never to be our enemy. The balance was bound to fracture, with or without him. The Blackest Night was bound to co. But through him as well, it was ended."
Hal’s jaw tightened. He hadn’t expected the Guardians, any Guardian to admit that. To admit fault. His ring pulsed softly at his side.
From beside him, John Stewart crossed his arms, his stern face cracking into the faintest smirk. "I heard you turned white."
Hal glanced at him, half smirk, half grimace. "Yeah, about that... Hold on though, John where the hell have you been? I didn’t see you once on Earth during all of this."
John exhaled through his nose, the kind of sigh only another soldier would understand. "A distant sector. Couldn’t leave them to die. Their worlds were burning, Hal, and Earth.." he gave him a look, steady and confident "Earth was in safe hands. You had this. I trusted you and the League. I was facing wave after wave of Black Lanterns... and here’s the crazy part, I wasn’t fighting alone."
Hal arched an eyebrow. "Don’t tell ..."
John’s eyes hardened, his voice low. "Reds. A full warband of them. Didn’t expect it, didn’t trust it, but... they fought. Side by side. Rage against death itself."
Hal shook his head with a small, incredulous laugh. "Great. So the universe is upside down, cats and dogs are living together, and now Red Lanterns are pulling team-ups with us. What a ti to be alive... I was aided by Razer as well... Though he is half blue lantern.."
John gave him a sidelong glance. "You’re deflecting. White Lantern, Hal. I need answers."
Hal’s expression sobered. He looked away for a mont, up toward the Central Battery’s glow. "...It was only temporary. A spark. The mont I did what I had to, the Entity... the White Entity itself... separated from . Gone. Just like that."
John’s eyes widened, his calm discipline cracking. "White Entity?"
Hal t his gaze, steady now. "Yeah. The power of life itself. And the Guardians..." He flicked his eyes back up toward the small robed figures in the sky, his voice edged with a bitter knowing. "The way Ganthet’s talking, it feels like they knew. Knew all along about everything."
John was silent for a long mont, his gaze cutting between the Guardians and Hal. Then, finally, he muttered, "Figures."
Hal’s lips twisted into a half-smile, but his eyes were cold. "Yeah. Figures."
The Corps roared again around them, rings raised high. Erald light covering the skies of Oa.
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GOTHAM – ARTHUR’S ESTATE
The estate was quiet when Arthur stepped through the portal, the familiar scent of polished wood and old stone greeting him. For once, there was no echo of battle, no stench of ash or blood just the calm of a ho.
George was waiting, as though he had anticipated Arthur’s arrival down to the very heartbeat. He stood straight, immaculate as always, though the faintest weariness lingered behind his eyes.
"Master Arthur," George said, inclining his head with refined precision. "Welco back. There are plenty of matters to catch up on and much to discuss."
Arthur allowed himself a faint smile. "Glad you’re safe, George." His tone softened, a rare thing after the battles he had endured. "Is there sothing I should know?"
George adjusted his cufflinks, a habit Arthur knew ant the man was choosing his words carefully. "Around the estate? Nothing terribly alarming, sir. Other than the tremors, of course. The earth beneath the manor has been restless. your... shadows are responsible."
Arthur exhaled through his nose, a low chuckle escaping him. "Yeah. They’ve been upgrading the base. I gave the orders. New expansions, fortifications." He tilted his head, mock thoughtful. "I suppose they’re not exactly gentle masons."
"Yes," George replied with that dry cadence Arthur often found comforting. "Though what I was about to tell you extends beyond dostic inconveniences. It concerns the world at large. Your shadows, sir, have beco sothing of a... global phenonon."
Arthur’s brow furrowed. "A phenonon?"
Without another word, George moved toward the sitting room and picked up the remote, flicking the television on. The screen lit with the crisp glow of a live broadcast. A news anchor’s face filled the fra, but behind her was shaky footage, clearly taken from a war zone.
Arthur and George both stood as the broadcast rolled.
The footage showed a ruined city street, smoke curling upward. People scread in the background until the cara jerked skyward, capturing a silhouette that made Arthur’s eyes narrow.
A dragon. His dragon.
Kamish’s shadow, vast and terrible, gliding overhead. Its roar split the air as it dove, scattering Black Lanterns in its wake. The anchor’s voice shook as she spoke:
"Reports are flooding in from across the globe tonight. These... creatures..shadow creatures, for lack of a better term, have been seen intervening in battles where the Black Lanterns were overwhelming resistance. Witnesses describe titanic beasts made of darkness: dragon, giants, and armored soldiers. They are not aligned with the Black Lanterns..if anything, they appear to be fighting them, and brutaly so."
The scene cut to another clip: a titanic humanoid made of black and glowing violet eyes tearing through a swarm of Black Lanterns, its massive fist sending them scattering like paper. The bystander holding the cara shouted over the roar of destruction, "It’s protecting us! Look, it’s actually protecting us!"
Arthur said to himself ’Surtr...’
George’s eyes flicked toward Arthur, studying him. Arthur simply folded his arms, and he just sighed.
The news report shifted again this ti to a battlefield in Europe. The cara zood shakily on shadow demon knights descending from the sky, their cloaks fluttering. They landed between a fleeing crowd of civilians and a horde of Black Lanterns. One raised its sword, light reflecting off its blade, and a burst of energy rippled outward like a shockwave, scattering the dead.
"This is not an isolated event," the anchor continued. "Reports from Africa, South Arica, and Asia describe similar interventions. Eyewitnesses claim so of these shadow warriors even wielded powers akin to Green Lantern . Constructs, light projections, and remarkably what appears to be a coordinated strategy to defend survivors."
The screen cut again, this ti to a war correspondent, his voice ragged as he crouched behind rubble. "We thought it was over for us. The Lanterns were too far away. And then.." He pointed the cara upward. A massive winged beast of shadow soared overhead, clutching a Black Lantern construct in its claws and tearing it apart midair. The correspondent’s voice broke, awe mingling with fear. "I don’t know what they are... but they saved us."
George muted the television with a deliberate press of the button. The silence filled the room like smoke.
Arthur let out a breath and dropped into one of the leather chairs, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "...So they’re the topic of the world now... well I kind of saw this coming but I had no choice but to deploy them all."
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&
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