CXLIV
Darkseid vs. The Justice League
Part One: Tears of a Guardian
On the quiet sea shores of Kahndaq in the early evening sun, they stood tall against the sunlit horizon... Three heroes and two… The newest Green Lantern Barbara Gordon, the last Kryptonian called Clark and the Amazonian Princess Diana of Themyscira all stood proudly… staring at Bruce and Raven Wayne. Finally, it was fiery-haired Barbara Gordon who posed the question, echoing what was on all of their minds…
"So… what do we do now?"
Bruce replied without hesitation.
"Oa seems like a logical place to start, Barbara. For all the differences we have in ideologies, I truly believe the Green Lantern Corps are our best allies. There's also our friends on New Genesis… Although it bothers me that we still haven't heard from Scott, Barda, Orion and Lightray yet. If Darkseid has begun to march, he may have started with New Genesis… It may be the war has already started and they need us."
"There is much I need to learn…" broke in Diana. "Who is this Darkseid who marches into war and what is this place New Genesis?"
Raven explained to the dark-haired Amazonian Princess about the New Gods and the opposing worlds of Apokolips and New Genesis. She explained that although the New Gods weren't worshipped as Gods, they were still immortal and incredibly powerful. She also explained how her father Trigon was once a New God named Drax and Darkseid had been his brother… which made him her uncle.
"Gods in name only then," spoke Diana. "The one you name as your father seemed closer to a demon than God"
"I believed that myself for many years, Princess…" nodded Raven. "Many of the Gods of old sired monsters, but my father chose to become a monster. However bad that Trigon has become, I believe that Darkseid is the one your Oracles have prophesized as the sum-of-all-evils. For as frightening as my father is, all the atrocities he has committed have been justified in his own mind in order to save us all from Darkseid…"
An astounded Clark spoke up.
"Trigon killed everyone on my planet Raven, and a thousand worlds more…"
"It was justified in his mind only, Clark… He truly believes that Darkseid will enslave the Universe according to an edict called the Prophecy of Stone. To Trigon, universal genocide was the only way to prevent Darkseid from…"
Their eyes were suddenly drawn to the sudden flash of green light that appeared before them - the signature emerald radiance of a Green Lantern about to appear. But the figure that appeared was not a Green Lantern… instead they all stood and stared at the blue-skinned Guardian who now appeared before them. Barbara approached the Guardian who had provided her with her Lantern…
"Ganthet! We were just about to come see you!... Ganthet?... Are you crying?"
The Guardian stumbled awkwardly towards Barbara Gordon and then tripped into her arms. It was true… one of the oldest living beings in the entire Universe –a race that valued emotionless logic above all things – was outright sobbing, tears flowing from his ancient eyes. None of them could comprehend what had brought such a powerful will and mind to tears like these. With broken breath, Ganthet spoke his warning to Barbara.
"Run, Barbara Gordon… They will come for you... You have to hide… He played us all for fools…"
Now kneeling to hold the unsteady and shaking Guardian, Barbara gathered his small blue hands into her own and attempted to sooth the Oan before continuing.
"Ganthet… It's OK, you're safe now… Who played you for fools? Who's coming for me?"
"Darkseid!... He set a trap for us, Barbara Gordon… Oa has fallen… It's too late… They're dead… They're all dead…"
"…Who's dead?!"
"They're all dead, Barbara… The Green Lanterns, the Guardians… Those who stood against him were all destroyed…"
"Ganthet, how?!"
"Manhunters…. Terrible Manhunters… The robots of our past… modified and multiplied to deadly effect by Darkseid… These Manhunters will not rest until every Green Lantern is hunted down and exterminated... You must hide, Barbara Gordon!"
"Everyone? But you escaped, Ganthet. Surely others did as well…"
"It will not matter… He will come for us!"
"Then we will fight!"
"That's not feasible, Barbara… At its peak, the Green Lantern Corps boasted thirty-six hundred active champions. Darkseid now has one million… one million perfectly obedient Manhunters, each tied to his indomitable will. Each Manhunter as powerful as a Green Lantern. I doubt there are more than one hundred Lanterns even left alive, young one."
Bruce suddenly made the earth-shattering connection…
"… The invincible army! That was what he said to Trigon on Maltus… that he would show him how the Guardians are destroyed!... Dear God, he's started the war with robots! Ganthet, what exactly are these Manhunters?"
Ganthet collected himself for a moment before continuing.
"They are indeed robots, President Wayne… sentient machines that could be considered the first prototype Green Lantern Corps. Before vibrant Maltus was destroyed during Ragnarök, we Guardians used the Manhunters to safeguard and police the Universe. Each of our Manhunters were equipped with a rechargeable Solar Lantern, armed with a simple energy weapon, not the Power Ring that the current Green Lanterns wield… although I'm afraid Darkseid hast vastly improved on our previous model."
"So these Manhunters are modified to now use the same magical energy as the Green Lanterns, Ganthet?"
"… Yes, and now even more. Corrupt Darkseid subverted the engineers of Oa to convert the Sciencells into a new power source for his Manhunters. His machines of war may use the power of the six Gods of Maltus or the energy of the sixty god-like criminals that are imprisoned on Oa."
"Is there a way to turn these machines off, Ganthet? Override their programming?"
The little blue alien thought for a moment.
"… I can not say, President Wayne. They are a new breed of Manhunter, manufactured on Apokolips. They seemed to be controlled directly by Darkseid's destructive will - perhaps through some telepathic command… It would be very interesting to study one and learn of its construction, but I don't believe we shall have that opportunity once they come for us."
"No, probably not. Manufactured on Apokolips, you say?…"
"Bruce…" Barbara Gordon knew the tactical Bruce better than anyone here. She could tell what he was thinking just by the devilish gleam in that one, calculating, blue eye. "Please tell me you're not seriously considering… No."
"All's fair in love and war, Barbara… But if we decide to, it will just be in-and-out, only long enough to grab one Manhunter. I'm willing to bet they're still manufacturing them on Apokolips… And it would be nice to know what we're up against. Ganthet, are you able to contact any of the Guardians or Lanterns that may have escaped?"
"Yes, but to do so would be to endanger their lives… even more than they are endangered right now. Use of our powers is easily tracked. Manhunters would be dispatched."
"I see… And this Central Power Battery on Oa… This is where the Manhunters draw their power from?"
"Yes. As the Green Lantern Corps draw their power, so too do the Manhunters, President Wayne. It was the Manhunters who drained our Central Power Battery initially and caused us to seek power elsewhere… all according to Darkseid's foul plan."
"Ganthet, if we were able to take the Central Power Battery offline… would that prevent the Manhunters from recharging?"
Again the Guardian pondered…
"Possibly… although Darkseid's machines may be able to pull power directly from Maltus as well. As I said, their new design is unknown to me."
"All the more reason to examine…"
Bruce paused and braced himself as the light and sound of Boom Tube suddenly manifested in front of them… He silently cursed himself, for all his plans, he had been too damned late!
But it was not Darkseid.
Everyone (but Diana) breathed a sigh of relief when a now-scalded Orion, Lightray and Barda stepped from the Boom Tube and onto the dampened sands of Kahndaq. Although Bruce wondered if his initial assumption had been correct… that Darkseid had taken the war to New Genesis as well as Oa.
The trio looked battle-weary, solemn… even defeated. Had they been attacked or had they attempted to counter-attack? Walking through the silence of the despair of three Gods, it was Raven who placed her hand gently upon an embattled Orion and quietly asked.
"…What sad tidings do you bear from New Genesis, cousin?"
"That Freedom is dead. And where Freedom goes, Hope soon follows."
"Hope remains, cousin… Scott is…?"
It was tall Barda who began to reply… Raven could immediately sense her overwhelming sadness - as if Raven has been thrown into a black sea of gloom. She knew that Scott was dead before even a word was spoken. There could be no other cause for such grief.
"… My love, my husband… is dead... He saved an idle New Genesis… but I fear that he may have doomed us all. Without Freedom to save us, Darkseid's tyranny now runs rampant, unchecked."
"Barda, I'm so sorry. He loved you so much... but as a true God, he will return though… through the Source?"
"Aye, Raven… Freedom will be reborn… if Darkseid allows such a thing. But it will not be my Scott. He sacrificed himself and abandoned me… And I would have gladly followed him… but that light-haired fool saved me!" Barda cast a dangerous look at Lightray.
"A silly moment of sentimentality, my dear," chided Lightray. "But fear not, I'm sure you will soon have the opportunity to die again."
"We shall all have the opportunity," broke in Orion. "The Highfather bid us to come to this world, to save you from the Great Tyrant, Raven. He has foretold that Darkseid shall soon come here for you…"
"For me…?"
Raven stood perplexed. Why would Darkseid come directly for her?... Was she a threat to him in some way?...
And then the memory hit her like a sprung sledgehammer into her gut… an incredibly ridiculous idea that Darkseid could not have been concerned with anymore… with the war begun and the Universe almost within his grasp, could he still care about that?!…
'Cruel Fate has cursed me with an idiotic useless lump of flesh that I must name as my first-born son, Kalibak. But with your powerful mind, beauty and spirit, perhaps something may be made of that most unfortunate blood line after all…'
No! Why were they always trying to marry her off?! Her own father had arranged for her to marry the Lord of the Unliving before she had even been born! And now Darkseid sought Raven for his own beastly son, Kalibak?
Her thread of Fate was already entwined to Bruce's… Why would Darkseid think he could ever break it? Or perhaps the God didn't want to. Perhaps he just cared about grandchildren, and wanted her simply as breeding stock…
Whatever plans Darkseid had, it was clear that her presence was now placing the group in danger. If the Dread Lord was coming for her, she had to leave…
"Bruce… if Darkseid is coming for me alone … Then it's not safe for you all if I stay here. I can travel to New Genesis with the New Gods, to give you time to plan… I can lead him away."
Bruce took hold of her wrists and stared long and hard into her violet eyes, his one blue eye held the power of cold steel restraining her wild emotions. His words held a power she believed no mortal man could possess…
"Mrs. Wayne… If Darkseid is coming for you, he'll have to get through me first. That, I promise."
"Bruce… I…"
As he gently held her chin, Bruce first noticed the strange emerald glow on the tear that ran down Raven's cheek, and then the glow spread onto her face and her cloak. Within seconds, a greenish tint illuminated the entire landscape as thousands upon thousands of Manhunters began popping into the evening sky above… like a reborn sunset of jade… until the night became green.
Orion placed one firm hand on Raven's shoulder and the other hand on Bruce's shoulder. He spoke the words they all knew to be true and the realization they feared…
"…He's here."