Author's Notes:
Of all Kirby's Fourth World characters, none have had the popularity of the nefarious Darkseid. Having now appeared in numerous other comic titles (LEGION, Superman, etc.) as well as shows, the Dark Lord of Apokolips has risen to become one of DC's pre-eminent baddies.
While Darkseid has the physical power to stand toe-to-toe with Superman in a fistfight, and the destructive Omega beams to give him the advantage over any opponent, he does not want to fight. To him, fighting is the result of a failure to properly plan. In fact, Darkseid seldom lifts a finger… He prefers mental superiority (much like Batman and Lex Luthor) to achieve his wicked goals and demoralize his enemy while his schemes come to fruition.
At heart, Darkseid is a planner. He is the villain industrialist. The God behind the curtain pulling the strings of the puppets he will rule... With that in mind, read on...
CXXXIII
Emerald Twilight
While muffled Barda lay incapacitated under Darkseid's heavy boot, Orion struggled unsuccessfully to free himself of the crippling, emerald beam continually striking him – only managing to stare straight into his stone-hearted father's glowing, crimson eyes of death, but no further...
"The will that holds you down is absolute. It is useless to struggle, Orion."
"…You're in league with the Lanterns?!"
"I am in league with no one, boy… I am the master of all Lanterns. If only you could look up to the skies, my son... perhaps you would begin to understand."
Darkseid himself looked above and smiled wickedly…
"It is an awesome spectacle, I assure you. The very fruition of my life's work, labors begun before you were even born, Orion. Can you guess what flies above us? Do you have the ability to evolve from a barking, dog-soldier to a master tactician of war?... I wonder… Tell me Orion, what were the terms of the Paix Arcana between myself and the Guardians?"
"… You gave your two newborn twin daughters to the Guardians, along with a large quantity of Element-X. In return, they agreed not to interfere with the affairs of the New Gods…. You seem to enjoy giving away your children, father…"
"I give nothing away. Only one of the twins was my daughter, Orion. But your young ears were filled with the growls of the kennels, not the whispers of court - so I could not expect you to know of your uncle's sad infidelity... Do I strike you as someone who would fear the Guardians?..."
"No..." Orion could imagine nothing that Darkseid would fear.
"So tell me, boy… Why would I give those blue-skinned heretics my own daughter and niece, along with the power to transport themselves across the known Universe - if it were not for fear?"
"You value secrecy far too much, Darkseid." But the secrecy to do what?!...
"Secrets are my greatest weapons, Orion. In fact, I will tell you one now, my son… There is one last, secret term of the Paix Arcana that even Izaya himself is not aware of... You see, the Gods were betrayed by one of our own kind.
At the time of the end of Ragnarök, the Maltusians were almost obliterated by the old Gods of Magic. Truly, it was a fate the runts deserved. Yet it was one of our own kind who saved them, an elder God named Metron… the apathetic God of Knowledge.
Turning his back upon his own kin, Metron befriended these small, immortal creatures and provided them with the devices they could use to drain a God's power… and transfer that same divine power to a central battery. It was Metron who gave the Maltusians the power to enslave Gods and then create the Green Lantern Corps.
Such heavy crimes indeed.
The last term of the Paix Arcana, the one that I allowed no God to know of, was that Metron would be added to a sixth crucifix… as the price of his treason. And do you believe even one Maltusian shed a tear for the persecution of the God who had saved them as they agreed to my terms?...
I assure you, they did not.
Nor did the fools suspect my true reason for placing faithless Metron upon that cross. You see, the God-draining technology that Metron had presented to the Maltusians to enslave their oppressors… he also presented to me to enslave mine.
In exchange for Element-X, Metron had given me that same technology to defeat my father and ensure my eternal rule on Apokolips… should your world-destroying grandfather ever manage to return from the Source Wall.
In the years after the Paix Arcana, I studied those devices well…
Would Metron have ever revealed to the Guardians that he had given Darkseid knowledge of the same devices they had used to enslave Gods and transfer that power to their central battery?
Perhaps… perhaps not… But if Metron were left hanging upon the sixth cross on abandoned Maltus where even the Guardians fear to tread...?"
Darkseid's evil chortle brought about a chill on Apokolips.
Orion struggled with all his might to look into the skies above, but the beam held him still in place. There was a strange, emerald glow to the landscape now… as if the sun had turned to green. Many of the closely huddled soldiers were suddenly staring up into the skies above - with profound fear in their widening eyes. Those who looked away had buried their eyes in their hands… to hide their tears.
What horrors were in the sky above to make sturdy men of war behave like this?!
"In time, my son… I shall reveal it to you… But first, you must ask yourself; what was the true reason of the Paix Arcana? Surely I could have hidden my secrets without such a one-sided treaty."
"It had to serve your ends, Darkseid…The Guardians have stolen power from the Gods to use as their own. But… that power could also be stolen… You would use your own enemy's weapon against him!"
"Well done, my son. You have now surpassed even the greatest mind on Oa who have had centuries to come to the same conclusion. But stolen?... Oh no, I have simply reclaimed what is rightfully mine. The power of the Gods belongs to the Gods, not long-lived runts.
The Maltusians have been living on borrowed time beneath an emerald sun… and that sun has now set… only to rise again upon the glorious Reign of Darkseid!
Behold my son! Look above to the skies of Apokolips! The Source itself will now burn green and the Tree of Life shall turn to stone! The Reign of Darkseid has begun!"
The emerald beam that had held Orion stopped.
An ominous feeling of dread suddenly filled the Dog of War as he turned his head to the skies above… to witness a million green lights twinkling above him… as if a green sun had risen upon Apokolips and the stars had been cast into emeralds…
Manhunters.
One million Manhunter robots hovered in the sky above him, awaiting Darkseid's every command. The same Manhunters that had fought the Gods of the Third World at the end of the era had now been reborn. These machines shared Orion's colors – the red of Apokolips with the blue of New Genesis, but unlike the shock suddenly dropped upon his own face, not a single one of the million, metallic masks showed any emotion…
"They do resemble you, my son. How strange that I had never noticed… And just as you have armed yourself with weapons from the past to defeat your enemies, so too have I. We seem to be students of history, Orion - with a love of the ancient artefacts of war. We will use history to rewrite the future.
It took some time to find the broken remnants of Manhunters spread throughout the galaxy, but my archaeological teams were… motivated. Once enough of these pieces were assembled, my scientists then studied the construction and design of a Manhunter until we built one of our very own. And then we improved upon the original. And then improved again and again and again… until I was finally content.
The factories beneath Apokolips have been basked in the emerald light of industry since the time of the Paix Arcana, their single goal was perfecting my army. The lights you see are power batteries built into the chest of every Manhunter… allowing them to draw power directly from both the Central Power Battery on Oa as well as the Gods of Maltus.
No silly oath required.
You see… unlike the Guardian's Manhunters who used primitive ray guns, each of my Apokoliptian Manhunters is a flying Ring of Power… one million of the most powerful weapons in the Universe now hover above us, Orion… and each is wielded by the most powerful will in the Universe…
…MINE!"
As Darkseid's evil laughter rattled off all dark corners of Apokolips, Orion felt hope drain from his extremities and down into the sewers below… He had never considered Darkseid with a Ring of Power before… but one million Rings all tied to his subversive will?!
Orion no longer required an energy beam to knock him to his knees – all sensation left him as he collapsed in abject despair… only to be whisked away near the speed of light with Barda in tow, the echoes of Darkseid's laughter and those one million points of green light still etched into his mind for eternity...
Lightray had allowed them to escape Darkseid and Apokolips.
But how would they ever escape the Manhunters?...