Chapter 503: A Necessary Fear
NYX -
The portal bloomed, and one by one, figures emerged from its depths, stepping onto the obsidian platform that served as Nyx’s primary receiving dock.
Batman came first, his eyes already scanning the shadow city with his reflexive paranoia. Behind him, Hal Jordan floated through the portal, his ring casting a green glow across the dark architecture. The Flash brought up the rear, skidding to a stop on the smooth black surface, the Shadow Lanterns of the convoy followed, dozens of them, their rings dimming now that they were home, their shoulders relaxing as the familiar darkness of Nyx wrapped around them. They secured the container at the center of their formation.
Arthur Blackwynd stood at the edge of the platform, his back to them, looking out at the city. The Central Battery pulsed in the distance, its violet light reflecting off his shadow armor. His hands, still stained with blood that wasn’t his hung at his sides.
He turned.
"I see that you saw my portal," he said. "I forgot to inform you."
Hal Jordan landed on the platform, his boots clicking against the floor. He looked around, at the spires, at the floating bridges, at the Lanterns moving through the shadows and shook his head.
"It wasn’t exactly subtle." He gestured at the portal, which was still shimmering behind them. "Made the trip back easier, though." He paused, his expression shifting from awe to something more serious. "Tell me, did you deal with Steppenwolf?"
Batman said nothing, his cowl was tilted slightly downward not at Arthur’s face, but at his hands. At the blood drying on his gauntlets. At the way his fingers, relaxed and steady, still seemed to remember the shape of a neck.
Arthur met Batman’s gaze for a moment.
Then he looked at Hal.
"Steppenwolf is no more."
Ripples spread across the faces of the Shadow Lanterns nearby some relieved, some surprised, some simply... satisfied.
Hal let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. "Good."
Barry ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his forehead. "Good," he echoed. "That’s... that’s really good. He’s been a problem for a long time."
"He was a symptom," Arthur said quietly. "Not the disease, Darkseid is still out there."
Batman’s cowl tilted slightly.
Arthur turned to face the Dark Knight fully. "Did you learn anything?"
Batman was silent for a long moment. The cowl hid his expression, but not from Arthur.
"Yes," he finally said. "It was... too much data, too much information." He paused. "I need to study it more at the Batcave, but we have it now." His voice was flat. "We’ll know a lot about Apokolips now, Darkseid knows that too."
Arthur nodded. His violet eyes held Batman’s for a moment. "I’ll be counting on you, then, Bruce." Arthur’s voice was soft, almost private. "Information is key against a foe like Darkseid. We don’t want him to catch us off guard." He glanced at the city, at the Battery. "Especially right now, not with the dungeons or with the Monarchs that we are dealing with."
Batman inclined his head "Of course."
He stepped forward, his cape brushing against the floor.
"Now," he said, "be so kind as to open a path directly to my Batcave."
Arthur raised his hand. Shadows coiled around his fingers, responding to his will, then a vertical seam of violet light opened.
"This will take you back," Arthur said. "Thanks for the help."
Batman walked through the portal without another word, without a backward glance. The darkness swallowed him, and the portal sealed shut behind him.
Barry stared at the space where the portal had been.
"What’s wrong with Bats?" he asked.
Hal landed beside him, his ring dimming to standby. "I don’t know."
Arthur stayed silent, watching the place where the portal had closed. His expression was unreadable then Hal turned to him, his face shifting into something more serious.
"So." He gestured at the container, still surrounded by Shadow Lanterns, still pulsing with that sickly yellow-black light. "What are you going to do with that box of yellow energy?"
He stepped closer, his ring glowing faintly in reaction to it.
"I know this power very well," he continued. "I’ve fought it. I’ve seen what it does to people." He looked at Arthur, his expression earnest. "If you want, I can take it to Oa, it’ll be safe there, the Guardians have containment protocols for..."
Arthur’s smile cut him off. "Oh," Arthur said, walking toward the container, "this box that Steppenwolf wanted to obtain?"
He reached it in three strides. The Shadow Lanterns stepped back, their rings flickering in deference. Arthur’s hand closed around the container, small, unassuming, barely larger than a human head.
"This is nothing."
He lifted it.
"Mere remains found by my Lanterns." He turned it over in his hands, watching the yellow energy pulse within. "The Central Shadow Battery absorbs and emits much more fear energy than this... measly portion."
He looked at Hal.
Hal’s eyes narrowed. "Arthur, what are you..."
Arthur crushed the container.
His fingers closed around it like a vice, and the metal, designed to contain the remnants of a fear energy shattered. Yellow energy exploded outward in a blinding flash, a shockwave of pure terror that sent the Shadow Lanterns stumbling backward, that made Barry’s eyes go wide, that made Hal’s ring flare in automatic defense.
Arthur stood in the center of it all and absorbed it. The yellow energy, the fear, the terror, the remains of Parallax himself flowed into Arthur’s body, it poured over his shadow armor, sank into his skin, was pulled into his eyes until they blazed with something that was no longer just violet.
The energy didn’t fight him.
It surrendered, within seconds, it was gone. Every last trace. The fear that had corrupted Lanterns and shattered sectors, that had been a threat to everything that lived,
Was Digested.
Arthur exhaled.
The violet returned to his eyes.
He opened his hands. The fragments of the container fell to the floor, their light gone.
Hal Jordan stared.
His mouth opened. "Okay," he finally said. His voice was faint. "Okay.."
Barry stood frozen beside him, his jaw hanging slightly open. "Did he just... did he just eat that?"
Arthur dusted off his hands.
"Thank you for your concern," he said. "But I have the situation under control."
He raised his hand, and another portal opened, this one smaller, tighter, designed for two people rather than a crowd.
"You can go as well." Arthur nodded at them both. "Again, thank you both for the help, Hal. Barry."
Hal shook his head slowly, a reluctant smile tugging at his lips. "Anytime." He moved toward the portal, then paused, looking back at Arthur. "Cleaning the scum of the universe always makes my day." His smile widened. "The Guardians won’t believe that someone already took care of that so-called conqueror of worlds. They’ve been after him for.." He calculated. "I don’t know how long, maybe centuries."
"For some reason," Arthur said dryly, "they will not like that I’m the one who dealt with him."
Hal laughed, a genuine sound, warm and surprised.
"Yep."
Barry jogged toward the portal, then stopped, turning back. "Alright. I’ve got business to take care of." He made a face. "And by ’business,’ I mean probably some dungeon with monsters. The usual."
Arthur inclined his head. "Good luck."
"You too." Barry looked at the shadow city, at the Battery, at the Lanterns moving through the darkness. "You know, with all of... this."
"This," Arthur said, "is the easy part."
Barry wasn’t sure if he was joking.
He decided not to ask.
The Flash stepped through the portal, and Hal followed, his ring glowing one last time as he crossed the threshold. The portal sealed behind them, its light fading, its energy dissipating.
Arthur stood alone, the Shadow Lanterns had returned to their duties, moving through the city.
.
.
.
.
The Batcave - Later
Batman sat before the main computer, the data from Steppenwolf’s ship streaming across a dozen screens simultaneously. Navigation charts, communication logs, fleet deployments. A map of Apokolips’s military infrastructure that no one on universe had ever possessed before.
He had been sitting there for three hours.
Alfred appeared behind him with a tray of food that would go cold before Batman noticed it existed.
"Master Bruce," Alfred said, "I hesitate to interrupt what is clearly a moment of profound significance, but you have not moved since your return."
"Steppenwolf is dead."
Alfred paused. "I see."
"Arthur killed him." Batman’s voice was flat, but his hands, resting on the keyboard were perfectly still. "He killed a New God, on his own ship, in the middle of his own fleet."
"And this concerns you? Didn’t you set out to space for that purpose, to end Steppenwolf?"
Batman was silent for a long moment.
"His power concerns me, always has," he finally said, "Now that I know it can be passed down to others... It is only right to fear what if someday this power falls into the wrong hands."
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