CXL
A Phantom Stranger In Paradise
Satiated beyond their wildest dreams, Clark and Barbara now stretched out upon the lonely dunes of Kahndaq underneath the glow of the full afternoon sun. As strong as that light was upon their sprawled, naked bodies, it was almost inconsequential to the warmth of happiness that glowed within them.
They had made love first in the air, and then upon the cloud tops, and finally along the Earth's horizon – where the sun was continually rising along the edge of the planet's curvature – allowing the orb to finally rise at the supreme moment of their ecstasy and bask them in light.
Now, as the newest Green Lantern and last son of Krypton laid upon the dunes of Kahndaq, they reflected on all that had happened to them over the past week. Clark leaned over and tenderly stroked Barbara's shining long, copper hair as he whispered to her.
"It's so quiet here. Peaceful."
"It is… How strange that this was the country at the heart of it. While the rest of the world is recovering in turmoil, Kahndaq seems so unaffected now."
"This was the type of peace that Ra's al Ghul promoted, unfortunately... As powerful as I am, I'm still amazed that one man was capable of killing so many people in the blink of an eye."
"I know, but it could have been much worse, Clark… If Raven had not gambled her eternal Fate with Trigon, every breathing organism on this planet would have died when the sun crested these very dunes were lying upon this morning. Humanity was literally seconds away from extinction."
"I'll have to thank her for that. Otherwise, this beautiful lady wouldn't be with me right now… But is everyone safe now? How did this weapon work, Barbara? I examined the Wayne-Industry nanites awhile ago and still can't figure out how they posed such a threat…"
"Bruce had a certain chemical sequence along his free-floating nanite chain that would alter when exposed to a defined gamma radiation burst to form sarin. The nanites themselves were innocuous - it was only when they were triggered that they became deadly."
"Bruce Wayne built this weapon purposely?!"
"He did, Clark… but he originally envisioned the Engine of Destruction in a much smaller capacity… a localized weapon. No one regretted its creation more than Bruce does now – or tried harder to stop it. It wasn't until the massive worldwide proliferation of the WI-Screens that he even realized its true deadly potential.
As much as I tried to help him, it was Raven that was finally able to rescue his soul from the darkness that grew in him after the death of his parents. As much as it hurt to admit it last night, I know those two were destined and right for one another. She saved him, so now he does everything in his power to save her… along with everyone else."
"You still love him, don't you…"
Barbara rolled over to stare down into Clark's blue eyes and smiled.
"Of course I do. He's my brother!"
"Your brother?... I don't understand Barbara, neither of you were adopted. How is Bruce Wayne your brother?"
Clark scratched his head and looked at her quizzically while he waited.
"I was adopted… by Raven. She adopted me as her sister. So that makes Bruce my brother-in-law. And you have no need to be jealous, super-man of mine… I wouldn't trade you in for the sun and stars, Kal-El."
Clark beamed a wide grin as he took her gently in his powerful arms.
"You're happy, Barbara?"
"Perfectly... Although we may be in some serious trouble… I don't think I can ever let go of you."
"…Then don't. We don't have to be apart. Think what we could do here, Barbara… Between the two of us, we could rebuild this entire country as a fertile oasis in a matter of days… a gift to the world."
"That they'd only fight over like children."
Clark laughed softly with a hint of sadness.
"Lois would have said the exact same thing… But even with all its troubles, she still had such hopes for this world."
"Even though I didn't know her as well as you, I do know that she had a beautiful vision of humanity's future… the technology that men like Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne could develop, combined with the knowledge of men from the stars like yourself… all guided by a woman's heart.
But these things have to earned, Clark. We must tread our own destinies, even if they take us to places we would rather not go. People have to walk their own path to the future or else they have no knowledge of the journey that was required to get them there, and become lost..."
They both felt a man-shaped shadow suddenly fall over their naked bodies blocking out the sun as he spoke to them.
"Wise words from one so young, Barbara Gordon. One missed step upon the path of the righteous can doom a soul to eternal wandering…"
To Barbara's naked eye, Clark did not even 'stand up'. He simply vanished beneath her body while she tumbled into the soft sand past the void where he had just been. It took her a second to realize that her lover had instantly reappeared directly in front of the stranger. Damn, Clark was fast.
"Just who are you?!" demanded a still-naked Clark without shame or embarrassment. Nor, thought Barbara admiring his body, should there be. But that didn't stop her from using her Ring to recreate her own Green Lantern outfit around her once more.
"Men call me the Phantom Stranger, Kryptonian…"
"Yes, we met briefly on that rooftop in Shiruta, Phantom Stranger. You were with the Wizard Adam when we last met. Why are you here now?"
"I am an avatar of light, last son of Krypton. A beacon in the darkest night and a guide along Miss Gordon's foretold path for all of mankind. I have come to tell you that although the bright skies shine down upon you, there is a Great Darkness beyond…"
"Yes, we call it space… I'm quite familiar with it."
In her green, black and white, Barbara Gordon now levitated beside Clark in an emerald glow to also address the Stranger.
"Trigon has been defeated. What is this other Great Darkness you speak of?..."
"Trigon still lives, Barbara Gordon. His defeat at your hands was simply a ruse meant to isolate his true targets. For the price of my aid to Bruce and Raven Wayne upon the planet Maltus, the God of Revenge transported me to the Realm of the Unliving – from where I have recently escaped. I can assure you that had Raven chosen the husband that her father had intended and not Bruce Wayne, our destinies would be very bleak indeed…"
It would be the only time that Barbara would ever witness the Phantom Stranger shiver in fear.
"How can Trigon be alive?! That's impossible! I watched him disintegrate!" Barbara was in disbelief as she felt the world beneath her begin to collapse.
"Trigon is a God and a full inheritor of the Omega Effect, Barbara Gordon. He has supreme power over life and death. But he is not the Great Darkness I speak of… It is his brother Darkseid that has become the supreme threat to all free will in the Universe."
"… Geez, you're just full of good news, Mr. Turtleneck. So… are Bruce and Raven OK now?" Barbara had realized who Trigon's true targets had been all along… and they had to face him alone!
"They live, although Bruce Wayne suffered the loss of an eye in his struggle against Trigon. More importantly, Raven Wayne was able to temper the hatred that has fueled Trigon the Terrible for the past millennium. His only option is to now face his brother directly to obtain revenge."
"But that's good, right? If his brother is this Great Darkness you mention then wouldn't having Trigon stomp on him work to our advantage? And then, once Darkseid has been taken care of, we just have to defeat Trigon, once and for all…"
The Phantom Stranger languished as he watched the drifting sands swirl at his feet… his shadowed facial features seemed disheartened.
"I fear Darkseid is… beyond Trigon's ability to stop. Even now your own masters, the Guardians have fallen victim to the Great Tyrant's treachery. Heed my warning young Barbara Gordon, use the power of your Ring wisely… the Guardians no longer control the means to recharge it."
"What?... What the Heck does that mean?..."
Barbara watched as the familiar black smoke began to materialize on the sands near them - signalling the return of Bruce and Raven. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the form of Clark briefly flickered - as he was suddenly wearing the blue uniform once again with the "S" emblem from Jor-El still fastened to its chest.
Raven and Bruce appeared from the thick, black smoke and stepped onto the hot sands of Kahndaq once again. Barbara grimaced as she saw the eye patch. Bruce glanced quickly at the Phantom Stranger and then smiled, reassured by Clark and Barbara's presences…
"If he's here, that means you've either just had sex or a screaming match…"
Bruce watched (now somewhat embarrassed) as Barbara's cheeks suddenly turned a deep shade of crimson. He turned his critical singular gaze at the Stranger.
"…Oh Barbara, I'm so sorry, it was meant as a joke at the Stranger's expense… I had no idea that you… But I'm so happy for you both… You and Clark are perfect together… But seriously Stranger, are you some sort of interdimensional voyeur?!"
"As I mentioned to you before Bruce Wayne, the robes of human flesh do not concern me, only the soul that dwells within…"
Bruce and the Stranger stopped mid-sentence as they turned their heads to watch as a streaking Raven flew directly into Barbara Gordon - who almost had the breath knocked out of her - as the Green Lantern was embraced in a tight hug by the ecstatic smaller woman.
"Barbara, I am so happy for you. Your heart is alight with joy, my sister!"
"Heh heh… Yeah, I guess I could never keep this from you, Raven. It just sort of happened... But what's this guy talking about?... Trigon isn't dead?!"
"My father still lives… There is so much that has happened."
Raven told them of their journey to Maltus and of the Five Inversions and Metron. About how Darkseid and Trigon had been brothers and rivals for the love of a Goddess and how Metron and Darkseid had worked with the Guardians (which disgusted Barbara as well) to obtain the source of the Green Lanterns' power.
She spoke of Trigon's revenge upon Bruce and then Darkseid confronting her father. How the Lord of Apokolips spoke of an 'invincible army' and that war had begun. She spoke of their attempts to enlist aid and how the government was not ready for this fight, that Bruce had decided to enlist the aid of its champions instead…
At her conclusion, the Phantom Stranger spoke once more.
"What you have spoke of is true, child of Trigon. But there is another who must join your ranks before you depart… the Princess of Themyscira who stands upon this country's shores even now. Seek her."
"Diana?" asked Barbara. "Would she be willing to travel so far from her Kingdom?"
"We won't know until we ask…" replied Bruce. "The Stranger talks in paradigms, but he seems to be pretty specific this time. But first… Clark, will you join us in our fight against Darkseid?"
"Of course, Bruce… It's just nice to be finally asked."
"Clark… Kal-El, as the current acting-President of America, I am releasing you of any and all obligations you have to our country's military. Consider yourself honourably discharged from this moment forward. If you're going to stand up for a cause, I want it to be for your own reasons… not because you're ordered to."
The two men shook hands and exchanged looks of shared admiration.
In that very instant, Barbara and Raven couldn't say exactly what it was, but there was something monumental that occurred in their reality… as if some fundamental force in the Universe had suddenly shifted. As powerful as Trigon or Darkseid were, somehow Bruce and Clark were just as strong together…
"Barbara, you may not endorse the Guardian's methods, but their cause was one of justice. Will you join us as the Green Lantern of Earth?"
"I… will… Of course… Bruce, what just happened there?… When you and Clark shook hands? My God, it was like some magic was in the air…"
Bruce grinned triumphantly back at her.
"We just made a Justice League."
Epilogue:
Princess Diana of Themyscira stood and sighed by the shores of Kahndaq while her sisters boarded the magical ship that would carry them all home. To her dismay, a few of her sisters travelled with them as nothing more than souls, having been crushed by the deadly rain of boulders. But these warriors would be re-born from the clays of Themyscira as she had.
The shield-galleys of her Island were magical ships that became the wind when commanded, allowing them to make their journey to their Island Paradise in but a single day and a night. But for the Princess of the Amazons, it was not a journey she relished. When the ship materialized once more upon the lush shores of Themyscira, she would return with her head hanging in shame. It was Diana herself who had convinced her mother to allow them to make this journey into the world of men - on nothing more than the words of Oracles.
Woefully, too many of her brave sisters had been wounded when the Gods had struck viciously from the sky against the Red Demon. How strong the Demon had been to withstand that mighty fury and how powerful the Green Ring Sorceress had been to vanquish the Demon in turn! With Hera's divine mercy, these Amazons would recover on Themyscira and Diana would have yet another story to tell children around their night-fire, but only after harsh recriminations from her overbearing mother.
But something else bothered the Princess…
The Oracle has foretold that Diana would become one finger of the hand which formed the mighty fist which would vanquish the sum-of-all-evils, a frightening being of supreme malevolence. But surely that had been the Red Demon!
How wrong the Oracle had been when she told Diana that her battle would bring eternal glory to the Amazons… She had not even drawn her sword! Diana had been nothing more than a mere spectator. All glory had been claimed by the Green-Ring-Sorceress who had defeated the Red Demon with one single finger and her magic Ring. But how glorious the fire-hair had been in doing so…
Perhaps in time there would be another battle. She would need a glorious victory before she could ever redeem herself in her mother's critical eyes…
As Diana strode aboard the shield-galley, she wistfully turned and faced the bright desert sands that she left behind once again. Truly, she had been witness to history this day - but the fated battle that sooths the soul of an Amazon had been denied her. There would be no honour from Queen Hippolyta upon their return - she would openly mock her daughter for foolishly chasing the tales of Oracles…
It was at that bleak moment that the warrior-Princess witnessed the swirling black smoke of the thin, dark sorceress appear on the shoreline, accompanied by her disobedient man. She also saw a powerful-looking warrior dressed in blue accompanied by the Green-Ring-Sorceress! Had they come to say Good-Bye? Diana paused as they called out to her…
Four, there were four of them…
The panicked protestations of her sisters sailed past her ears as she flew through the rushing air in a mighty bound back towards the shoreline, her weapons and shield strung across her powerful back. She would not be accompanying the Amazons this day!
"…Princess, where are you going?! We are leaving! Your mother!..."
Laughing like a child on the shoreline, mighty Diana shouted back to her fellow Amazons - as the magical ship slowly faded from view and began to disappear into nothing more than a warm breeze over the foams of the Sea…
"Tell my mother I'm off chasing the tales of Oracles!"
Diana smiled as she confidently strode towards the group of four to make them five… the five fingers of a mighty fist that would vanquish the sum-of-all-evils as foretold by the Oracle. This story was one she would share around the night-fire, gazing into the glazed, frightened eyes of her younger sisters…
Author's Note:
It's a little known fact that superheroes in the DC Universe often avoid having sex for fear of the Phantom Stranger appearing shortly thereafter… In many of their circles, he is referred to such things as the Phantom Killjoy, the Peeking Phantom Stranger, the Phantom Menace - or worse.