Phantom 27

“The wards here are exceptional,” Nuidis whispered, his hands glowing a wispy green as he waved them in front of him, watching the indecipherable runes in front of him swirl through the air. He was old, and not illiterate about other cultures like half his race, but yet, here was something he had never even heard off, “You are not of this world, are you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“I have lived for centuries, Master Potter,” the Atlantean smiled, nodding at the runes fading away into invisibility as his hands stilled, “and have roamed much of the old world that remains even after humans started destroying everything. But yet, I have never even seen or heard of some of the things you have done here with magic. The fact that you have an entirely new runic system is also a surprising thing.”

“What is Atlantean magic like?” he asked, reaching out with his senses towards the magic flowing within Nuidis. As expected, it was much different than what his race used. The closest equivalent in his experience, would be the Amazons, who too had magic of similar nature flowing within their bodies. However, for the Atlanteans, the magic was more…denser and…almost vibrating to his magical senses. Like it was contained in a box too small for it. The amazons on the other hand, possessed an energy more fluid and lighter in comparison. ‘Probably because of the difference in lifestyles and applications’ he thought, seeing Mera create a geyser of pressured water to send after a still laughing and apologizing Arthur. “Is she normally like this? Or has the pregnancy affected her more so than what humans experience?”

“King Arthur has been absent from Atlantean court for weeks, ever since the aliens were repelled at our borders and the seas across the globe,” the short man replied, sighing as he turned to look at his kingdom’s royalty. “Queen Mera..understandably isn’t much

 pleased with his conduct…especially with her pregnancy reaching later stages. One of her worst dreams lately has been of King Arthur running away to the mortal world to leave behind Atlantis’ throne, which he has repeatedly made jokes about in the past.”

“Women are..difficult to handle,” he surmised, seeing a water torrent the size of a small building get deflected by Arthur’s casual flick of a wrist. Deciding that his island had seen enough married shenanigans for a day, Harry clapped his hands once, the sound resonating all over the place. “I hate to interrupt you Queen Mera, but Arthur came here for some important problem he was facing…I think we should get to that first before you visit your rightful fury upon him.”

“...fine,” the woman grunted out, floating over towards them upon a sprout of water as she sent a withering glare towards her husband, “I will deal with him later.”

“Yes, my dear,” Arthur grinned, giving him a smirk as he ran a hand through his blonde locks, gliding every drop of water out of them into the sand. “And thank you Harry, for saving my ass.”

“Mention not,” he snorted, before his smile was replaced by an inquisitive expression as he waved a hand towards the waters ahead, “now, what is that catastrophic problem you wanted me to take a look at?”

All joviality drained away from the Atlantean’s face, and even Mera and Nuidis stood straighter at the reminder of just why Arthur had decided to visit him. “A word of warning,” the King of Atlantis muttered as he nodded at the suddenly churning waves in the sea, the water swirling faster and faster as it formed a tunnel-shaped structure leading into the depths, “Don’t do anything which it can take as a threat. We don’t know if it can call reinforcements or not.”

“It?” Harry echoed as the Atlanteans walked towards the water, and after a moment, he followed after them. “Are you taking me underwater to take a look at your pet, King Arthur?”

“I wish it were so.” the man grimly replied, and his eyes sharpened at the tremble that went through Mera’s body, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Harry felt his connection to Death pulse softly—as if suddenly, the eldritch entity’s attention was focused upon him and his actions. Going by Arthur’s ominous words…he couldn’t say that was a good thing.

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“John Stewart, as I live and breathe,” Sinestro’s words echoed near the base of the Council’s tower, and John grinned as he turned towards his former mentor, and now a longtime friend. Sinestro’s ever-serious face had a small smile, and the Korugarian nodded in greeting as he floated down. “Word of your achievement in Sector 2814 has spread throughout the corps, Stewart.”

“Thanks, Commander,” he nodded, before sighing as he stared in the direction of his home system. “Only wish it could have been done before an entire race went extinct, and that is only what I know of. Who knows how many civilizations these things have destroyed over the time they have been in the dark?”

“I agree. It is troubling that creatures such as these ‘Imperium’ managed to evade justice for so long,” Sinestro nodded gravely, his eyes flicking up towards the Council’s tower. “However, that is a discussion for another time. Right now, I wanted to tell you of another matter of importance. Abin Sur has fallen.”

“Wait what?!” he nearly shouted, his eyes blowing wide as he sent a mental probe through his ring, requesting access to the Green Lantern commander’s last known location. Sinestro calmly watched as he looked down at his ring with shock, the last tracked location of Abin Sur revealing it to be his own planet. “He died on Earth?! Why didn’t my ring warn me of this? I could have saved him in time!”

“Abin Sur overrode the ring’s distress call system most probably. Whatever he was against, must have been too much for a standard backup company” Sinestro shook his head, clenching his fists as he stared up in the direction of the Guardians. “What has happened, has happened. Abin Sur has joined Ion’s light, and his ring has already chosen a new bearer, from your species itself Stewart. I believe he may be arriving any minute now. Continue onwards to your meeting with the Guardians…and I shall see if the Lanterns have gained another worthy light or not.”

“If Abin Sur chose to give this man his power ring, you might just be in for a surprise Commander,” he laughed, recalling just how stalwart and exemplary example of a Green Lantern. The next moment however, he sobered up and stared at his ring, sending another query through the intergalactic network formed by the Power rings.

“Classified.”

“Oh for fucks sake,” he groaned, glaring at the glowing ring upon his finger, his willpower surging through the ring’s neural and emotional sensors as if a steadily building solar storm, and even Sinestro was a little impressed by the amount of vitriol in Stewart’s gaze as he turned to stare with contempt at the Guardian’s tower. “I said, why was Abin Sur’s automatic danger beacon not broadcasted to the nearest Lanterns? I just warped from Sol System, and why was I not notified of it? His over-riding wouldn't have worked while he was dying. Hell, even after his death, the nearest Lantern is supposed to get a notification of investogation!”

“Extreme willpower detected,” the ring’s AI warbled out, its mechanical and melodic voice echoing in the silence as John’s eye began to glow a violent emerald, the Lantern symbol on his chest burning brighter by the minute. A second later, his ring shone again. “Error, Access Denied. Further requests will be grounds for detainment and temporary suspension from your duties as a Green Lantern, along with the confiscation of your Power Ring and Battery for a duration of one month on Oa.”

“It's no use Stewart,” Sinestro finally spoke, his firm, commanding voice breaking through John’s single-minded focus, and the human finally looked up again, the slight green tint in his disappearing slowly as his ring too cooled down. The Korugarian sighed for what John was sure was the first time in his life, and the commander of the Green Lantern Corps stared at his own ring. “No use going to probation on a thing we both know to be useless. The Guardians have always guarded their secrets, even at the expense of our lives, and the lives of trillions across the Universe over the eons…yet nothing has changed. Better that you continue your work instead of damning more to the Guardian's egoistic folly by crossing the…rules.”

“The Guardians have no right to restrict this information. Abin Sur’s ring can provide us vital information about his defeat and attacker for all we know,” he protested, disgruntled and feeling like he was back on his planet, watching a smarmy politician evade and duck questions. However, just like back on Earth, John knew it was no use raising this issue. Not against the Guardians, who had stood still upon their throne, unchanged and unmoving while whole galaxies had shifted across the cosmos. Sighing again, he looked at Sinestro and nodded in the direction of the Guardian’s abode. “I’ll just submit my report and come to the training area. Let's see what this ‘Hal Jordan’ is made of.”

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“John Stewart, Green Lantern, Patrol Sector 2814,” the voice of Sayd echoed in the silence of the Guardian’s audience grounds, the Planetary Citadel—it was more of a roof, and John guessed semantics hardly mattered when the ‘Bobbleheads’ were concerned. Nodding respectfully at the old man, John came to a stop at the centre, masking his displeasure with years of practice, “The Imperium have been defeated in the Sol System. We would hear your report of the incident now.”

“The Imperium were nesting upon the planet Mars, fourth in the system,” he began, and for a moment, it seemed as if the Guardians seemed to recognize the planet, Sayd’s eyes gaining just a little more focus as he created a projection of his home system, zooming in on the Red planet. “They had already destroyed the Martian civilization there, and only a single survivor remains according to my investigation, and the survivor’s own accounts. When a space exploration team from Earth reached Mars, the Imperium managed to stow away with the astronauts. The Martian had been captured and imprisoned by the Earth’s military, and he in turn requested the aid of three individuals in freeing him and fighting the Imperium.”

“And how were you enlisted amongst these individuals, Lantern Stewart?” Ganthet muttered, his large head shifting slightly as he regarded the human, his last remembrance of Earth showing it to be nothing too special. An intelligent lifeform that was heading into its own ruin with the rapid, unsustainable development they had started enforcing, as well as the civil wars that seemed to always go on between them. He had seen millions like them over his life, and Ganthet did not doubt that he would see a million more. But that still did not explain just how a Martian—and that was a black hole he’d rather not revisit—was able to find three individuals to help it on an outer rim planet like Earth.

“I wasn’t contacted by the Martian,” he shook his head, the hologram projected by his ring changing yet again to show to the three who had been, and this time, John definitely saw the Guardians tense at the sight of Superman. “These three were. To my knowledge, the one with the cowl is a normal human, albeit highly trained and skilled, along with the intelligence to back it up, and he goes by Batman. The second is a Kryptonian that hides himself amongst the humans, but also protects and saves people and he has been named ‘Superman’. The third is a mage, and of quite a lot of power based on what I saw and gathered during my stay on the planet. He goes by ‘Phantom’ and is a human based on what I saw of his physical capabilities.”

“A Kryptonian…Krypton exploded cycles ago,” one of the Guardians muttered. “How did Abin Sur never report this to us? And a mage? You believe him to be human? Did you not scan his physiology with your ring, Lantern Stewart. It could be an eldritch entity for all you believe.”

“How would I know what Abin Sur thought of it,” he shook his head, giving the Guardians a small glare as he shrugged. “Besides, it isn’t as if his ring sent out a distress call when he was dying on the same planet I came from. Regarding the magic user, he has protections in place that our rings cannot pierce through. I cannot even view his heart rate, or see his willpower at all.”

“Continue with the recounting of the events, Lantern Stewart…we shall ask our queries or clarifications at the end if we have any,” Ganthet’s raspy but strong voice echoed in the Citadel, and John silently thanked the Guardian. Nodding slightly, the Guardian raised a finger at the projection. “Continue please.”

“The Imperium began to convert the oil rigs and other factories on the Earth into their own chemical releasing platforms using their fabricators,” he began recounting again, the projection in front of him changing yet again with his words to show the said establishments, as well as the fabricators used by the Imperium. “I checked the database, and these are Psionic in design. That could probably explain the weird way these Imperium just spawned out of nowhere, with no other similar species discovered yet. They were destroying and devouring the humans en masse, starting with the nation America since that is where the initial Imperium landed with the space exploration team’s return. Soon, however, various individuals began combating them with varying levels of success. I came by the scene when my ring alerted me to the danger signal broadcasted by Sol System’s alert system, which was triggered by the irregular amounts of energy being released on the planet. I started containing and destroying the Imperium as well as their smog-making sites, but soon I was contacted telepathically by the Martian, who claimed to know a way of shutting down the UV-repellent emissions.”

Taking a pause, he enlarged the projection as it shifted to show the people who had stood against the alien invasion. Idly, his eyes lingered a bit on the women, but Stewart could not fault himself for that. Both Shayera and Diana were beautiful beyond the standards of the mere mortal women he had been with, and the fact their armor…was well not all that armor-y certainly helped too. “From left to right, they are Batman, the Flash, Superman, Phantom, his sister Appolina, Diana alias Wonder Woman, Shayera Hol and Jonn. We took on the mothership forces at Jonn’s insistence and faked our capture to aid Batman in hiding and reversing the Imperium’s machinations upon the planet’s atmosphere. Once Batman had achieved his objective, we once again began our assault on the leader of the invasion. Phantom, Diana and Jonn led the assault, but using their telepathy, the Imperium leader managed to take control of the Kryptonian for a brief moment. However, Phantom and Jonn managed to remove the Imperium from his mind and body within moments. The Martian then telekinetically contained the Imperium and flew him into the system’s star, while everybody else returned to the woodwork they had emerged from. I then scanned the planet for any traces of Kryptonian technology to trace Superman’s presence on Earth, and I found an escape pod in the same country, buried in a human family’s farm. Seems to me he was sent off Krypton right as the planet was ending, and landed on Earth only to be adopted by the humans.”

“Does the Kryptonian exhibit any particular violent intent?” the Guardian to his left asked, its pupilless black eyes seeming to peer into his mind itself, and John mentally grimaced. He never quite got comfortable with just how dead the Guardians seemed to him, especially this nameless one with its black, lightless eyes.

“None that I saw,” he shook his head, playing dozens of recordings he had copied, each showing Superman averting one disaster or the other, saving lives and protecting the people the best he could—and his track record was practically spotless, with only that cyborg incident being one of the two recorded casualties in Superman’s vigilante-superhero career. “He is saving people left and right in a thousand-mile radius at the very best, and even against criminals, he uses the bare minimum of non-lethal force. He has grown up on Earth, and from what I have seen, seems to consider himself a human enough to help everyone he can.”

“And the magic user?”

“Dangerous,” he responded instantly, his ring shining the first three appearances of Phantom in front of him. “He uses magic like nothing I have seen before, and on a scale that far surpasses the paltry, one-dimensional tricksters and charlatans in our archives. While I was leaving Earth, my ring alerted me to a heavy output of interdimensional and magical energies, and I arrived on the scene to find the Phantom clashing with another sorcerer. I hid myself out of view, and spectated the whole bout. Phantom has no qualms about killing, and he cares nothing about the collateral damage or the loss of life he causes. He crashed into a vehicle, and scraped off the guts and flesh stuck to his back like it was nothing. He is also capable of augmenting his physical prowess by magic, and he is at least supersonic in that state. He has also exhibited the ability to reverse and cause necrosis, along with altering weather on a city-wide scale, and again, control and mastery over various elements.”

“And his sibling?” Sayd asked, raising a finger to shift the projection, displaying Appolina throwing around waves of fire to burn away the Imperium. “Has she shown similar behavior to this ‘Phantom’?”

“More observation would be needed to make any such conclusion,” John shook his head, remembering the bits and pieces of conversations he had heard. “She has taken the alias based on the Greek god of Sun’s name from a mythology back on Earth, and I think the Phantom and Wonder Woman are partners.”

“Yes, this Wonder Woman,” Ganthet seemed to test the name out, as the hologram once again transformed.”What are the sources of her powers?”

“She claimed to be a demigod of Themiscyra, and a daughter of Zeus,” he answered, and this time, John was sure that he didn’t imagine the slight shift in the Guardians’ posture. Hell, it was for the first time he was seeing some of their perpetually closed eyes open! Pulling up the armor and sword he had seen her use, John willed the ring to show the composition of the metals in her regalia. “Based on the unidentified metal making up most of her items, I think she just got her hands on some magical weapons and is an enhanced.”

“Very well,” the Guardian on his right spoke, as the doors to the Citadel opened up behind him. “Make your way to the training grounds to greet Lantern Jordan and acquaint him with the Green Lantern Corps, as well as the rest of the areas in the Ion. Also, you are being given a new assignment. Starting now, you are to patrol Sector 2814 with Hal Jordan, and monitor the situation on Earth. Report back any new sighting of powered individuals, as well as observations on the Kryptonian, the magic users, and this…Wonder Woman.”