Chapter 173: A Talk with the Blue Guy.

(General P.O.V)

"Ban-Kai: Owaranai Chesha Neko."

(Unending Cheshire Cat)

A pillar of light rose up from Davian's position.

Storms of wind rushed out as reality struggled to maintain its structure with the manifestation of a being not meant to be in the mortal world; too great was his power.

In the sky above the perimeter elected by the military, a news chopper was struggling with the sudden rippling winds that hit it from the ground.

"Get us closer..."

The reporter said.

Alarms begun flashing across the aircraft, warning them of impending doom.

"Are you crazy?"

The pilot asked, turning the chopper around.

"Can't you see the massive wind storm under us?"

The aircraft wove in between buildings as it escaped the effects of Davian's authority.

The sky above Metropolis was awash with purple and gold light, pushing the gloomy cloud cover away.

Obsidian, holding Raven by her hair stopped his brewing attack, the shadows in his control pausing in place as he beheld something he had never witnessed before.

Not as Darkseid or even his new existence as the Gray Lantern.

"No, I'm stronger. I hold the power of the Emotional Spectrum."

The Gray Lantern said to himself.

"There is no way anyone has this kind of power..."

The purple and gold light died out.

And Davian was revealed. Shirtless, his muscular brown body was dotted with scars from his rough upbringing.

White hair with streaks of gray danced around his head from the roiling of energies surrounding him. And his eyes... Obsidian had never seen so much apathy.

It was like his life in the eyes of this new...being was worthless.

But all that paled in comparison to what was on his forearms. Two gauntlets.

The moment Obsidian's eyes fell upon those dark, foreboding gauntlets, a dreadful realization washed over him.

He understood that he was utterly outmatched, outgunned, and outclassed. Panic surged through him like a tidal wave, drowning his confidence.

Without a second thought, Obsidian turned on his heel and took to the skies, leaving a trail of fear in his wake.

His lantern, once a symbol of his denial over emotions, flickered with uncertainty.

The world's salvation had been brought about not through physical might, but by the paralyzing grip of fear.

"Too late to run."

The statement reached his ears, just as he was about to break through the upper stratum.

Huh?

Obsidian chanced a look behind him and saw Davian raise his hand while still on the ground. Then he clutched the palm into a fist.

Crisscrossing lines of green and black strings flashed on his vision. The strings were EVERYWHERE he looked.

The air around Obsidian suddenly got heavier, closing in on him from all sides. His chest felt constricted and squeezed.

"Don't you dare play with me!"

The former New God yelled, his forearm shifting into a dark spike that he plunged straight through Rachel's chest.

Only for her body to fade away into nothing. She was no longer in his hold.

"Impossible."

Obsidian muttered to himself, looking around. Something was wrong. The sky...why was it white? Why was everything white?

When had it gotten that way?!

His shoulders grew heavy. Breathing got hard. But-how? He didn't need to breath.

"You think you're the only one capable of affecting the senses?"

His opponent voiced out.

"Where are you coward?! Show yourself."

Obsidian roared, pulling on his abilities before producing a storm cloud of gray energy.

"Take this! A world of infinite illusions!"

The storm cloud blew outward, only to transform into a group of brightly colored birds that flew away around Obsidian's body.

"Impossible."

The Gray Lantern muttered, backing away.

"I can control aspects of reality."

Davian said.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

The grid flashed around Obsidian as the birds were transfigured into a massive lightning storm. Streaks of purple demonic lightning fell from the sky toward Obsidian.

"Haha! You think such an attack can injure me?"

Obsidian laughed in false bravado, creating an umbrella of gray energy above him.

The umbrella failed to hold up for even a single second.

Obsidian's body was fried and he fell from the sky, creating a massive crater on the ground.

He still had enough awareness to hear the rest of Davian's statement.

"You're nothing to me, Obsidian. None of the enemies I have fought were ever this weak..."

In the real world,

Obsidian's body hadn't moved an inch from his previous position in the air.

He had a blank look on his face that would be exchanged for a terrified one, each time he realized he was stuck in an illusion.

Only the illusions were expertly layered. Davian's use of the hand of god to attach and reattach strings in the web of life ensured that his brand of illusions were truly unbreakable.

Speaking of, the Soul Reaper hadn't moved from his position. Yet, one second he had nothing in his hands, then the next, he was cradling Rachel's body gently.

She shifted in his arms, face twisted in pain.

The light of the sheath washed down her body, healing her of her injuries.

"Dav- Davian...?"

She blinked, muttering softly in question.

"Yeah...it's me. I'm here."

Davian replied with an uncharacteristic gentle smile on his face.

Rachel seemed relieved.

"Oh. That's...good."

Then she jerked in alarm, turning to stare at the sky towards Obsidian.

"Wait. You need to be careful. He's..."

"A non-issue."

Davian cut in, tightening his palm into a fist once more.

Obsidian's body was squeezed from all sides. The Gray Lantern let out a bloodcurdling scream.

His limbs shattered and his Torso burst apart into an oily sludge that splattered onto the ground.

Davian smiled at Rachel's surprised look.

"See, a non-issue."

He said, helping her up.

"That's not it...we tried to destroy his body before too but he somehow came back..."

She replied, legs still shaking weakly.

"He comes back huh?"

Davian murmured to himself in thought.

"Yeah. There is a trick he uses."

She bit out.

"Destroying his liquid form didn't work. It's how he lured in Grail and swallowed her into the sludge."

Davian narrowed his eyes.

"I see. He must have a pocket dimension within him."

He placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"Stand back, let me..."

"No! I wanna fight him."

Rachel refused with a surprising burst of energy.

"You don't understand how I feel. I was helpless against him. You can't tell me to sit this one out."

She told the Soul Reaper stubbornly.

Davian opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Okay."

Unexpectedly, he acquiesced.

"Wait... really?"

Rachel asked in shock. She hadn't thought he would agree so readily.

"To be fair...I won't always be around to protect you."

The Death God informed her.

"You need to be able to fight for yourself. Besides even if he can't die normally, this guy is kinda weak to me. He's a downgrade and a total waste to use Ban-kai on."

He held out a hand to his front.

"So... he's all yours."

"Thanks."

Rachel told him, a teary smile on her face.

"I won't lose."

She wiped a lone tear away, walking forward with her Demonic magic brimming within her.

"Besides, I needed to show you my newest trick. Courtesy of a mutual acquaintance."

"Mutual acquaintance?"

Davian asked blankly.

Before Rachel could answer,

The sky above them was suddenly plunged into darkness as shadows from all over the city rose up into the air.

They combined into Obsidian once more. Only this time he wasn't smiling.

"You dare let a child face me?!"

He demanded from Davian.

'so, she was right. He came back.'

The Soul Reaper thought.

"This child can speak for herself thank you, very much."

Rachel said, her palms pressing together.

From within the folds of her cape, a white light rushed out, smashing onto the shadows around Obsidian and lighting up the surroundings.

The caw of a bird sounded, followed by a White Raven emerging from Rachel's position, before taking off towards the sky with a flap of it's wings.

There was another explosion of energy from the clash of light and darkness.

On the ground, Davian had a small smile on his face as he watched his student stand up for herself.

"Well, someone's gotten stronger."

He observed, witnessing the battle of light triumph against darkness. Rachel was actually keeping up. Now he knew who the mutual acquaintance was.

"Raven."

He muttered, only this time her name wasn't clouded by pain.

"It's rude to stare you know."

The Reaper said, addressing the presence he could sense hiding behind him.

"Forgive me."

A polished voice spoke up from his back.

"I did not intend to be rude."

Davian shrugged, hands crossed together as he continued to watch the fight.

"Nah it's cool. You here to fight me?"

Doctor Manhattan blinked, revaluating the being before him.

"Such an endeavor would be meaningless would it not? Seeing as you are much more powerful than I am."

Davian finally chanced a look behind him.

"Well color me surprised. You really are the genuine article, aren't you?Only a being at my level can sense the true depths of my power."

"The Gauntlets."

Doctor Manhattan said.

"They should not exist side by side, but do. Is this the reason why you're such an Enigma?"

Davian waved a hand, his authority surging out, making the fight happening above them seem inconsequential at the power he could casually call on.

The action seemed to make time seemingly rewind around them.

The destroyed buildings and properties, the burning wrecks of vehicles, the dead bodies lying on the street, the injured in the emergency stations...

Everyone affected by the invasion, not only in North America buy across the entire world.

It was like none of it had happened. As if it had been a fever dream.

~~~~~

Once more, eyes were cast down into the mortal world.

"Mmph."

Davian snorted.

"Still can't keep your eyes to yourself huh, Nekron? You've been watching me for months now. Once I'm done here...we should talk about boundaries."

The eyes seemed to linger for a few seconds before disappearing.

~~~~~

Davian shook his head in annoyance.

The water in the bay gently lapped against the shore. The sun shone down.

It was a new day again...

"You undid it all."

Doctor Manhattan finally said, observing their surroundings. Cars honked on the street. And a few people were watching them from the shore. The scene of a glowing blue guy on the beach must have been too eye-catching.

"The entire invasion."

"Not really."

Davian said, falling backwards, only to land on a bench that appeared behind him, created by his Hand of God.

The world around them froze in time.

"Something like stopping time is easy, but rewinding it is a hassle as I'm sure you no doubt know. I didn't undo any of what happened. I simply fixed everything that was destroyed in the aftermath."

He explained.

Doctor Manhattan pressed his finger onto the side of his head. Then he blinked.

"Incredible. You put everything back together perfectly."

He bent to the ground, lifting something off it.

"Even the life of this insignificant ant."

He said, staring at the confused ant running on his finger.

"You sound shocked. As if you couldn't do the same if you wanted, Manhattan."

Davian responded.

"I could but...there are restrictions in place."

Manhattan replied, letting the ant go.

"Every universe has it's laws. You seem to not be affected by that at all. Perhaps that's why they..."

"Wait."

Davian said, lifting a hand.

"If you're about to tell me something vague and cryptic about a future enemy or some shit like that...don't."

He sighed, leaning back into the bench while watching the sky.

The White Raven's light was still fighting against the shadows of an ever changing monster.

The battle had already left the earth as both combatants traded blows above the atmosphere.

"I would rather not know. I'm finding it hard to be excited already without you spoiling what's going to happen."

Doctor Manhattan said nothing for some time. Then he cocked his head to the side.

"Mmmh, how intriguing. You are not bothered that I am here, despite the fact you seem to know me. You only seemed to be interested on whether I came to fight you or not."

Davian sat up, a lazy smirk on his face.

"Should I be interested in anything else? All I know is fighting. All I do is fighting. All I love is fighting. And I'll take on anyone, anytime. So keep whatever warnings I'm sure you have to yourself."

"Even if I told you, you are soon to die?"

Manhattan asked.

Silence fell in between the two.

"Even then."

Davian answered, the confident smirk on his face, only increasing.