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The Emperor of Mankind, has finally ceased. The Golden Throne failed after ten-thousand years of defending and guiding humanity in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, however only befitting of the being that embodies humanity, the emperor exploded into a corona of a psychic explosion accumulated from the trillions of humans that payed fealty and worship to him and the Golden Throne serving as his medium to amplify his already gigantic might. A supernova that rippled not just in the materium but even the Sea of Souls itself, like the birth of a star it burned the brightest it has ever been that it even reached deep into the depths of the Eye of Terror and sundered countless Deamon Worlds that lie within. Yet for all His power, even he did not know what came next.
Through a twist of fate, whether by Tzeentch, Cegorach or even The Deceiver, the Emperor's very essence was flung from the Warp, his might so blinding and encompassing, that it seemed to be the birth of a newborn galaxy suddenly launched across the Milky Way, and far past the boundary of the dimensions between the layers of reality.
So when the Emperor's very essence broke through the boundaries of reality and into the realm of the World's Finest; Every cosmic being in existence felt the visitor's arrival. From the fiery depths of Apokalipse, Darkseid; its lord and master felt this newcomer's presence, its might like no other, its very being burns the very empyrean that lies in parallel with reality, and should this being ever reveals itself, Darkseid has no doubt that this anomaly will be a force of reckoning never before seen in existance.
The denizens recoiled in terror as the flames of their planet rose higher than they have ever seen and hotter than they have ever known, as some slaves that dwell beneath the planet burned right out of existence as they could their feel their master's dark joy coursing through the heart of their world. They shuddered in absolute terror, as Darkseid's joy was far worse than his anger.
When the day comes that Darkseid meets this entity face to face he will be ecstatic at the inevitable confrontation. This new champion of life against his quest to end all life.
They will fight, and it will be magnificent!
One day...one day...
---
It would be a fortuitous day, for all the people of Earth that will soon be its dominant species of their planet; for the man named Vandal Savage will never come into existence, and in his place will be something infinitely more than the man Adgar Var once was or will ever be one day once man sets himself for the stars in the night sky. No, the world will never know of Vandal Savage; the immortal and enemy of the yet to be formed Justice League in the far future of Earth's history. In his place, and on one inevitable day where is forced to reveal himself to mankind in its defense against the darkness of those who would see humanity be destroyed or enslaved by those from parts unknown.
All will know him one day, and on that day, the world and those that dwell in the farthest reaches of the cosmos; from Darkseid's throne on Apokolips, to the Guardians on Oa, and even to the Source itself. They will know the Master of Mankind that hailed from the 41st millenium, the founder of the Imperium of Mankind, a man like no other, a warrior like no other. None shall ever know his true name they will know simply as...
The Emperor...
He sat upon a hill with his tribe, back from a good hunt as they celebrated the coming of the new season as they will forego the harsh biting cold of winter, a star shined upon Adgar Var, he did not hear the cries of his tribes people calling to him as they ran against the star that was about to befall on him. No, he only thought that when he saw that warm light that bathed him in its brilliance he knew that while he may have died, he only thought that this light was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.
On that day Adgar Var was no more. The being that took his place was born anew
His eyes opened as he looked to his surroundings, countless questions formed instantaneously as his superhuman mind began to process once after 10,000 years upon the Golden Throne, his rebirth made possible as a Perpetual, and the prayers that he reviled were directed to him by the trillions of humans that worshiped him only strengthened him even more than he was initially before his internment to the Throne. Emotions of all spectrum flooded through him; the absence of the ruinous powers, the suffering mankind faced...
He took a deep breath in order to straighten his thoughts, he has all the time in the world to mourn for the empire he once built and the dream he fought for and the machinations of the Primordial Annihilator he buffeted with all his might. He knew without needing to, that the world he is inhabiting is not the world he once fought, all that he cared that this was Earth and that was more than enough
Come what may, HE will not fail humanity a second time...
---
Clark Kent had seen a lot things in his life both in his civilian life, and his even more colorful superhero life. Manipulated by Darkseid, being a gladiator, duking out with a space biker (the universe is a strange place to Clark's mind if there is even the concept of a biker in space of all things), he would have thought that all the surprises in his life would have to stop at some point and he hopes that just for one day, his home of planet Earth can have some semblance of normalcy even in the face of his strict code of superheroing.
Unfortunately the Watchtower were attending two very important guests of opposing doctrines in the Watchtower meeting hall that promised to be a day to remember; it will definitely be an interesting one.
Their current guests are Ganthet a Guardian of Oa and Dr.Fate Sorcerer Supreme and Champion of Order
Clark took it back, interesting is massive understatement; but if it needed the League's full attention from such vast distance of teachings, one on the side of the cosmos and one of the side of the mystical, looks like it was about to get very interesting for the Justice League.
Dr.Fate otherwise named Nabu spoke first.
"Champions of the light, I have come from my tower for a matter of grave importance. A knowledge and sentiment shared by Ganthet, a Guardian of Oa" he paused for effect in order to let everyone sink in his announcement before he continued "The mystical force of Order...is growing too strong."
Every hero in the assembly hall that were not affiliated with magic were confused by that statement, a confusion that oddly were not shared by John Stewart and Kyle Rayner of the Green Lantern Corp.
The Flash however raised his hand, one of the more free-spirited members of the League wanted to break their confusion one that Oliver Queen found that they shared "Ughhh hate to break it to you Doc, but isn't that a good thing? I mean if Order is getting stronger, aint that mean were doin our job"
Batman corrects his friend and colleague "He means that the balance between Chaos and Order is being threatened and nothing good can come from one thing being in excess Flash"
"Oh" Flash puts his hand down. Batman nodded as he made his point "Continue Nabu"
The Sorcerer Supreme bowed in gratitude "For the past few weeks the forces of Order have been growing in strength and potency, making mistakes and causing an imbalance in the material plane" He gestured to a fellow hero in the stands of the hall "Captain Marvel, if I may be correct have you been having trouble with your powers as of late recently?"
The boy Billy Baxton in his hero avatar Captain Marvel nodded despondently his hands cuffed with specialized wards and a dampener around his collar, however the red warning that flared from both the manacles and collar sugested otherwise. This wasn't so that the everyone in the vicinity would feel secure less he would turn rogue; no, this was in fact so that Captain Marvel wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone. The normal gestures that Captain Marvel took for granted like, opening a door or drinking a glass of water, skills that he has long tempered in order to blend in with the other heroes were on overdrive to extreme measures as he almost killed a villain, his lightning powers nearly creating a power surge by being in the vicinity.
His powers eventually grew too strong that he couldn't change back into Billy Baxton...
"Yeah Doc..." his sadness was palpable as he was sure that his family was worried sick for their missing son that suddenly vanished into thin air. "Do you and the blue guy- Oh Im sorry, what's your name? I forgot"
"Ganthet young man of Earth" The Guardian answered the shackled hero
"Yea Ganthet! Sorry" He apologized for his rudeness "So do you and Ganthet know what's going on with us?"
"No, and that is what we will attempt to find out and be made aware to you all" Nabu gestured to Ganthet to take the floor.
"I have come personally to give you the gravity of the situation" he cleared his throat for his lengthy explanation "I do not know the time difference from Oa to Earth has been for the Green Lanterns stationed in this sector, but I have no doubt that you have been feeling a gradual rise in your power of your constructs correct? Seemingly needing less strain on on yourselves on maintaining your constucts for no reason?" The Terran-born Lanterns nodded to their superior officer "For the main power battery of Will on Oa has been aware of this phenomenon for months without incident and we had initially dismissed it as an unknown boon for the Lantern Corp. as whole. That is..." Ganthet took out an unusually large black box, too large for it to be necessary to fit in the palm of any human hand, from his robes that shone with a green light that bathed the are in its emerald luminance "...until this materialized in front of the battery."
"Whoa..." Kyle Rayner the "Torchbearer" could feel the potency of the ring within the casing; so strong was the power of will for whoever is the owner of the ring that for some odd reason he could 'taste' it if will even had a flavor. John shared his sentiments and made his question known. "Ganthet is that what I think it is?"
Ganthet nodded gravely to his Lantern "Yes John Stewart, contained within this box I am holding-" the dimunitive being put it back into his robes returning the room to a regular lighting "-is a lantern ring trying to reach its wielder" That struck John as odd and the word 'trying' is setting alarm bells in his head as he put the pieces to what might possibly the most absurd thing that he could possibly think off.
"Ganthet... if you say is trying to reach its wielder, you cant possibly mean-?!"
Ganthet raised his hand, this time to interrupt his appointed officer's realization instead of a question and proceeded to -as borrowing an Earth phrase- drop the veritable bomb"Yes, we the Guardians have traced the ring's wielder to Sector 2814 of Earth, and somewhere among the seven billion human populace is a single being of such gargantuan and titanic willpower that he or she was able to exert his will upon the Main Power Battery and the ring from reaching this planet from the vast reaches of the cosmos"
This...got everyone in a frenzy...
From a deathly silence one moment, to an uproar of enormous rousing. This got the Leaguers into a spiral of confusion and bedlam as well. While most Leaguers cant exactly understand the mystical nature of the situation without being one with mysticism themselves, they can take into account the science and the believability of space much easier by comparison. The worst part of it however to the founding members of the Justice League that is shared by every Leaguer in the room was this line of thought; there was someone on this blue and green planet that they do not know of, that is so unfathomably powerful that by the power of his 'will' alone he was able to prevent a power ring of the Green Lantern Corp, powered by the primordial cosmic energy spectrum of will from reaching its wielder and exposing his identity to the world.
The good thought that came from this means that whoever is the wielder of the ring, means that he must be a man or woman of great character that he was found worthy to wield the most powerful weapon in the universe, meaning he can be trusted as a force for good. The part of the rational and skeptical part of the mind however is forced to acknowledge, that whoever this unknown person is who was it that was so powerful that he could exert his will all the towards one end of the universe all so that the power ring could never reach his true wielder. Its already odd enough that the Main Power Battery would spontaneously materialize a power ring it is a whole other galaxy entirely that whoever its mysterious wielder may be that he took the trouble to actually continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week force the ring from ever reaching its wielder for months!
Everyone was both in equal parts shocked and excited for this surprising development, everyone who knows of the Green Lantern knows that they are a force for good -barring Sinestro- and that means that whoever its wielder is, must be the strongest living Green Lantern in the Corp's existance or even history, right next to Mogo the planetary Green Lantern!
This would be a monumental day for the League, for this not just means another ally in the name of all that is good and true but an ally so powerful that it could tip the balance between good and evil. Whoever their mystery man was, he was aware of both sides of reality and a master of both. If he could affect a power ring of the Green Lantern Corp. that meant that he understood that for all the cosmic otherworldly ability of the ring, the fundamental basis of its conception is after a weapon. A technological marvel unlike any other in the known universe, meaning that whoever is manipulating the ring from revealing the person's identity is a technopath of monumental scope and understanding of its function.
For the wielders of the mystic arts this represents an opportunity that they never thought would have existed. There existed a person somewhere on the world they live who is not just a man of science, logic, and technology, but a man whose potency in the mystical world were so potent, that he may have inadvertently affected the entire magical world and is the cause of creating that imbalance. There have never been in the history of the world in the mystical world a man capable of being a part of both schools of knowledge that exited on the world.
A man of both science, and magic.
Not the magic of science, or the science of magic; No, this was history in the making. They have found a human being who is fully capable of understanding, and applying the aspects of both! With such a magnitude of this person's power capable of imposing his might into the vast reaches of space all the way from Earth!
While they are only slightly relieved that the person was a champion of Order, meaning that the person they are looking for is an agent of good against the forces of Chaos, this same person in the pursuit of Order could inadvertently tip the scales too far and irreversibly damage the fine balance between the necessary forces that is Chaos and Order!
Batman took this in stride, but in his mind, it was racing as fast as his intellect the human mind can process. Someone on this planet was able to block his ring from coming into contact with it's chosen wielder all the way from the center of the universe where Oa, the headquarters of the Green Lantern. He and those like-minded in his viewpoint like the Question, was processing on whether this potential ally of the Justice League could be an equally potential threat. Bruce caught something in the corner of his eye that caused him alarm; the target of his scrutiny, J'onn J'onzz.
J'onn was too stiff, and his fingers were flexing of a tell and his breath was too uniformed, tight. J'onn caught Batman's eye and knew that he was found. Bruce glanced in Clark's direction, Superman sternly looking in Batman's direction challenging him to oust their long-time friend and lone survivor of the Martians 'Big surpise'
Bruce didnt need to use his considerable deductive abilities to know that Clark caught on to J'onn's unease as his superior senses of his Kryptonian origin allowed him to reach the same conclusion of the Martian's unease. Unlike Batman however, Superman was considerate of their friend and believed that J'onn will tell them when the time is right. It have worked for Bruce Wayne if it was in one of his social problems; but this was Batman, and if there are lives on the line, he was having none of that!
He was fully prepared for the less than savory argument that was a foregone conclusion, and compared to that this was nothing.
'He knows something' Batman silently gestured his head with his silent message without the aid of J'onn's telepathy
Superman, not Clark Kent answered with his own message 'Not now Bruce!'
This invisible and discreet game of charade didn't even last five seconds before Batman spoke up, his pragmatism winning out over his camaraderie.
"Is there something that you would like to share with us J'onn?"
And just like that, all eyes have fallen on the Martian, his eyes downcast not willing to meet with the eyes of everyone assembled.
Superman raised from his seat stand in defense of the Martian "J'onn if this information is important we can talk it out in private if you want"
He appreciated the gesture from the Man of Tomorrow, this helped lessen the burden on his guilty conscience that he could no longer keep hidden. J'onn took to the stand under the gaze of his fellow heroes as he will finally reveal a secret that he has kept hidden from the rest of the Justice League.
"My fellow heroes, both friends and newcomers..." J'onn J'onzz took a breath, taking in the filtered clean air of the Watchtowers air circulation as he attempts to form the words that will shake the foundation of their world with his revelation
"Years ago, when Superman requested my help in a city wide-sweep for Lex Luthor, I was on the verge of a mental breakdown as I opened my mind in order to pinpoint and search his whereabouts. As you all know-" he motioned his arm to his fellow founding members "-that was not something I wish to make a repeated attempt." Superman sent a silent apology for what he had to put his friend through. J'onn saw this and calmed Clark's conscience as he did what was currently the best option of the time.
"As I was saying, this attempt almost caused me to lose my mind with the influx of emotions and personalities that swirled around as I listened to everything that going in the thousands that were inhabiting just one city. At least, except for one..." Everyone's attention was immediately fixated on who is the identity of this mystery person "I can confirm at the very least that the person we are looking for is a him."
"Well thank goodness that cuts down 50 percent of the human race-" Black Canary voiced her criticism to Oliver's joke elbow point to his ribs, as he fumbles to his side from the impact. She looked back to J'onn and nodded to him to continue.
Tasteless jokes aside "This man we are looking for, he...bounced my mind back to me" J'onn explains the analogy "it was only for very brief contact, but he nudged my breaking psyche back to me at the same time attempted to erase the memory of the meeting of the minds you could say. Believe me it was formidable, unlike any I have ever encountered, I was fortunate however that during the psychic snap back I have shielded the memory deep in my subconscious, hypnotizing myself that I have forgotten the meeting but I will constantly remind myself that I have encountered this being in case the memory comes back from my self-induced amnesia"
He looks towards Dr.Fate and Ganthet "Your findings have awoken the memory of my encounter"
Wonder Woman aka Diana to her peers, spoke her question to add to the assembly "So is our mystery telepath anything like Grodd?"
J'onn nodded to the exiled Amazon "Much much more, so much so that he could reach it all across space to the ring on Oa."
Wally couldn't even begin to imagine his simian telepathic rival duking out with the future mystery Green Lantern in a battle of brain power and he could run circles around the world. That would mean that whoever is telepath, technopath, magician, and this unraveling identity of this person. His mental powers must be like a supernova compared to Grod, being a speck of dust by comparison.
Ohhhh he was gonna enjoy the day Grodd meets him! He would definitely go bananas that there was a human who could not only beat him in a battle of the minds, but outright squash him entirely! Though that would include J'onn was well if he was gonna make a comparison. Though that did beg the question to the Fastest Man Alive; why hide all this time? Think of all the good he could do to humanity and the world around him. What he could offer to the universe even by wielding a Lantern ring? Why hold it back from it's wielder? Where has this mystery man been all this time when the world was at stake on multiple occasions?
Dr.Fate decided enough was enough, they had a lead and this was the best they have "Then where do we start J'onn Jonzz of Mars, his power is vast like an ocean encompassing the Ether"
Ganthet once again took out the black box, again illuminating the world in its emerald brilliance. "I agree, we must find its wielder being a Lantern is a matter of honor and a responsibility that the ring must be one with its wielder. This new recruit could mean a great change and we cannot allow this opportunity to slip by unnoticed."
Dr.Fate eyed the alien next to him as he had a different opinion of this unknown entity, Ganthet might be optimistic for this person to be a Green Lantern, but he had other ideas as this person's actions is destabilizing the balance between Order and Chaos, the only way for this unknown champion of order to heel was to be the next wielder of the helmet so as to reign his actions and potentially be its eternal guardian. With such power of the mystic art at Nabu's reign he believes he can finally put a permanent stalemate to Chaos no longer sacrificing other users of magic and depriving them of living a normal life on Earth.
J'onn eyed the box in Ganthet's hand as he prepares all of his mental prowess to the upcoming revelation of this mysterious entity. "Let me make contact with the ring, I will try to ling myself to the power of will and see if I can trace it to it's wielder" he then spoke to Dr.Fate "I will require you assistance Doctor, if you can use your mystic arts to somehow boost my mental abilities and link myself to the 'will' of the ring, I should have enough strength to find him"
"It shall be done..." Ganthet opened the box and like quicksilver, the blackness melted away and bathed the occupants and its assembly in a blinding emerald glow that is was blinding the rest of the occupants lighting up the entire Watchtower in its green light, that even the people of Earth could see it. J'onn squinted as he realized that despite the glow emanating from the ring it did not hurt his eyes, nor it blinded him. He could make out the shape of the ring and saw a great difference that easily stood itself apart from other the Lantern Rings, because it did not look one bit like a ring; In fact, instead of a ring, it was a fully formed gauntlet made entirely of the element that acted as the conduit to the power of 'will'. The indentation of the badge of the Green Lantern Corp was fully visible on the middle finger the indentation is present on every other digit sans the badge to double its function to seriously hurt whoever meets the knuckle end of it's wielder's fist. The gauntlet's overall design was pretty large in of itself, and he must be of quite significant stature narrowing the profile of the owner. On the Dorsal armor, J'onn eyed the odd design of an aquilla, the oddity was that the eagle had two heads, one eye closed and one eye open. Its wings stretched wide to cover across both ends of knuckle and on the center of the aquilla, lies the Green Lantern badge shining at the core of the aquilla and at the very center of the Lantern badge, right in the center of the Aquilla J'onn can see a green stone at its center; a shard of the main power battery. The two Green Lanterns in the room stared in amazement of its construction for they and the Guardians understand the significance of this creation. This Lantern quote unquote Gauntlet will be usable indefinitely without ever needing to recharge, this was unprecedented. They could all see that the Aquilla was clenching something in its talon, it was a sword that ran along the gauntlet that appeared to be burning an ethereal green that spoke of its power, the Leaguers and unfortunately 'others' saw this for this momentous occasion.
J'onn once more took a deep breath...
"I will now attempt to make contact with its wielder" As J'onn proceeded to make contact, the race began.
---
Cadmus had inside intel on the Watch Tower as they heard everything that happened in the assembly. Lex Luthor had his own means of inside intel as he is now scrambling his own resources to find the mystery man. Clarion the Witch Boy and others like him sense the shift in the skeins of fate and attempt to find this champion and snuff him out.
---
The Source Wall trembled in anticipation for a momentous occasion will commence that will decide the future of the Earth. Metron gaze his sights upon the planet Earth, and see the first time of the face of the mystery visitor from beyond the plane.
While the Highfather on new Genesis was scrambling to convene and decide what to do with the coming of the one on Earth that actually caused a reaction to the Source.
On Apokolips, the flames burned anew as its flames stretches far into space as Darkseid can sense the visitor finally forced to reveal himself, he will make his welcome to this world a most certainly pleasant one.
---
On a mountain in the Himalyas a man returned to his home after doing the night shift from the European Branch of Psionics Division of Star Labs. This man made his way inside his humble one-story home, only to feel the gazes of both from within the Solar System and beyond.
He was paying the price for his one act of broken concentration in repairing the Martian's mind to stay in hiding and his construction of the Webway System that he was building for the last thousand years that was not ready to be revealed for at least another three to four centuries to be used by mankind.
It didn't help that now the proximity of the power ring of the Green Lantern Corp was now so close to it's wielder, the Martian can easily narrow his general location, and with the computational power of the ring, there was nowhere on Earth and whatever shielding system he builds will stop the ring from uniting with him
Alas, he was found...he needs to plans quickly.
