Volume 4: The Reaper.

(General P.O.V)

(Main DC Universe)

Earth.

An enduring planet.

Probably the most resilient and well protected place in the entire universe.

In the same way, also the riskiest place to live.

And that was due to the large number of heroes; Each dedicated to safeguarding the birthplace of humanity.

And the villains that oppossed them; each dedicated to causing as much trouble and chaos as they could.

On this day however, things were different.

Peaceful.

Never had an enemy stronger than the combined might of the world, arrived on Earth and made a simple request, all without resorting to violence.

The Justice League and the leaders of the UN, some of the most influential figures in society, were in meeting with the group which had introduced itself as The Quintessence.

The meeting took place in the UN. The location the Quintessence had teleported in. A bright flash of white lightning heralding their arrival.

They seemed well versed in Earth's politics and governing system. At least enough to request for an audience with the leaders of the world.

From there it had been a scramble to get the news out and call in the League. After all, they handled this kind of business.

The Watchtower was of course updated on everything happening across the globe, it didn't take long for the full might of the Justice League, almost all members to arrive on scene.

*******

John Stewart was immediately taken aback by the central figure of the Quintessence. A group of 6 distinct alien entities.

"Ganthet?!"

The Green Lantern had exclaimed, cameras flashing around them.

"John."

Ganthet had nodded in greeting.

"I apologize for stopping by without warning, but the matter at hand could not wait."

"Lady Hera."

Wonder Woman, floating by Superman's side had immediately gone down on a knee upon spotting the tall and beautiful woman beside Ganthet.

She was the prime example of a mature woman, her waist was thin, hips were wide and her entire body glowed with divine energy.

Her face possessed an uncanny otherworldly beauty and her bearing was unmistakably Royal.

The goddess of childbirth and marriage, the queen of Olympus, Hera.

Hera had sneered down at Wonder Woman, but otherwise chose to stay silent.

While she absolutely abbhored any of her Husband's bastards, she was smart enough to see the bigger picture.

The Gods had chosen a side. And the enemy standing in opposition to them required nothing but absolute cooperation. That meant whatever allies they could find.

He was just that powerful.

"I feel like a monkey on display." Highfather standing on Ganthet's other side had complained at the flashing cameras and the attention on them.

They were in a courtyard adjacent to the Conference Building.

Surrounded by UN peacekeepers; military personnel from across the entire planet and the bane of anyone caught in controversy, the press.

The Justice League on their part, stood directly opposite the Quintessence.

The two groups had some measure of privacy as the zone around them was left empty. The onlookers wary of getting caught in the crossfire, if it came to blows.

"Why did you set our arrival point to such a noisy location, Wizard?"

Highfather had grumbled some more.

"We do not have time to scour the Entire Universe for him."

Ganthet had spoken out in defense to Mamaragan, the Wizard Shazam.

"Even divining his location has failed. This is naturally the only other option."

"Indeed."

The Wizard had replied, eyes briefly landing on Shazam whose face was filled with many questions.

'He's matured.'

The Wizard had thought to himself. The Billy he knew would have abandoned all protocol and etiquette and jumped in to catch up, or rather demand answers that The Wizard was wary to give.

He didn't forget what he had sacrificed for this.

Just remembering Rama Kushna's disappointed look almost made his guilt overwhelm his conviction to see this through.

'I'm doing all this for you Billy. So that you don't have to face that Monster.'

With all of the League mostly gathered, the last member arrived in style.

A green batwing touched down on the courtyard with nary a sound, a breeze surging out and ruffling the flags of the member nations built along the second floor hallway.

The same hallway that connected the Conference building to the General Assembly Complex.

The Batwing dissipated into will energy, losing its form and structure, leaving behind it's pilot, the Emerald Knight (Batman), covered in a green shroud.

Ganthet's face had soured. Strangely enough, the League hadn't seemed happy to see him either.

That was a few minutes ago.

Now they were inside the Conference Building and Ganthet had the stage.

"People of Earth."

He started, addressing the Ambassadors and delagates in attendance.

"My name is Ganthet and I am a Guardian, part of the Green Lantern corps and a friend to many of your beloved sentinels."

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"Sentinels? Is he talking about us?"

Shazam whispered to Flash who shushed him, uncharacteristically serious.

The League sat on the left side of the stage, while the rest of the Quintessence occupied the right, though the Spectre hovered above his seat, an imposing figure radiating power.

"Behind me,"

Ganthet continued with a gesture of his hand,

"Are members of the Quintessence. A group of the Highest Order of beings, charged with the protection of the universe. We are mere observers. Only intervening when we need to."

"And what is your business here?"

Superman, the one chosen to be the League's representative inquired.

"We are after a dangerous Individual."

Ganthet replied, his tone going low.

"This man."

With a wave of his hand, a green pannel created from Will Energy appeared above Ganthet's palm.

A gasp went through the crowd of officials. The common man probably wouldn't recognize him at first glance, but the attendees knew him. They were after all government officials.

"""It's him."""

""" The Reaper."""

""" I heard he destroyed Gotham, and then brought it back."""

""" He sank an island in the Caribbean!"""

A few commentaries were audible from those who recognized him.

"That's-"

The Flash muttered in surprise.

"Davian Mabuz. Otherwise known as the Reaper."

The Emerald Knight stated from his seat, interlocking his fingers together.

"I should have expected this. Only one man can bring this kind of attention and heat to the planet."

The Emerald Knight added, eyes narrowed under his green cowl.

"I'm sorry. Heat?"

Green Arrow questioned, not expecting an answer. They had grown used to this version of Batman.

He was essentially just a honorary member of the League at this point. Most often than not, he wouldn't bother coming for the League's meetings.

"You can't sense it, but while Ganthet, Hera and the Wizard are powerful, the other two are the problem. One of them is of course, the Spectre. The other..."

The Emerald Knight trailed off.

"Is someone just as if not more dangerous."

Zatara cut in gravely. The league turned to the magician.

"You don't know who he is. But I do."

Zatara further explained.

"His name has been lost to time, or maybe he never had one to begin with. So he goes by another. The Phantom Stranger."

"This is so not how I thought my Saturday morning would go."

The Flash sighed.

"Okay, so we have the Guardians, the Olympians, the Specter, the old guy Wizard-"

"Shazam."

Shazam interrupted the speedster.

"His name is the Wizard, Shazam. And yeah we share the name. It's a title given to the god's champion. He's responsible for giving me my powers."

"Oh...alright."

The flash replied.

"So Wizard Shazam, the New Gods, The Guardians, Olympians, The freakin Specter and lastly The Phantom Stranger. All working together. All after Davian. For what? "

The Flash wondered.

"I'm sure some of those factions like the Olympian Gods and the New Gods have always been on opposing sides, right?"

"Looks like he's about to answer that."

Black Canary said.

Back on the stage, Ganthet picked up where he left off,

"This man..."

the entire room hang on his every word.

"Threatens not just your planet...but all of creation. We need to find him and put a stop to his machinations."

"Then you won't have much luck here."

The Emerald Knight stated, getting up from his seat.

Ganthet's brow scrunched up in annoyance.

"And who are you to decide that?"

"Someone who's been after him for months."

The Emerald Knight responded.

"Yet I have found no traces of him anywhere across this planet. He is elusive just as he is powerful. If you came here thinking you'd find him, you've wasted your time."

That didn't tide over well with the Quintessence.

"And who are you to tell us what is and isn't a waste of time?"

Hera mocked, one leg lazily slung over the other.

"Take off the ring and you're just a man."

The Emerald Knight's lips thinned.

Then in a gesture that was extremely unexpected, he wrapped his palm around a finger on his right hand and tore off the Lantern Ring.

A flash of green exploded out.

The Emerald Knight's costume shifted from green and black to his iconic gray and black outfit.

Another gasp doumdee out from across the chamber.

The Dark Knight's cape waved in the air behind him.

"You're wrong. I take off the ring and I'm Batman."

Batman responded, glaring at the Quintessence.

"And the six of you are trespassing on my planet."

(Elsewhere)

Out in space, a lone satellite was orbiting peacefully.

Then things suddenly changed. The satellite's angle was tilted, and a panel on its side retracted.

A beam of green energy shot out of the satellite, blazing through the debris hanging in space before connecting to another satellite. Then that satellite connected to another. Then another.

Up until there was a network of satellites, creating a web of energy that eventually connected to the Watchtower.

The skies flashed green.

The Earth found itself enclosed within a bubble of emerald Will energy.

(The U.N)

"Impossible!"

Ganthet said, staring up at the ceiling of the building with glowing eyes that could see through matter.

The windows were transparent so the people in the chamber were privy to what had the Guardian worked up.

"How can you harness Will without the ring?! Answer me!"

The Guardian demanded from Batman.

"I learned to synthesis my own."

Batman replied cooly, throwing the ring in his hands at Ganthet.

The Flash blitzed to the Dark Knight's side, throwing a hand over his shoulders

"Wrong yet again. It's not Impossible. That's just Batman for you."

The Speedster chuckled.

"Glad to have you back, Batsy."

(Davian's P.O.V)

I could feel it all.

Every breath I took, the Universe seemed to inhale with me.

I fully opened myself to it, immersing my spirit into the ebb and flow.

A new sense, one different from Reikaku awakened within my soul and I could not only feel it all, I was it all.

Every shifting atom across the cosmos.

Every active electron colliding against each other, every molecule attaching and detaching constantly due to the pervasive heat that could not support life at this nascent stage.

I was intertwined in all the fusion reactions happening silmuteneously. And it was beautiful.

I delved deeper into the experience. And that's when I heard a thump. One in perfect sync with my non existent beating heart. ( I was still a spirit)

It was gentle. And soft. The heartbeat of the Universe.

She was so young. Barely an infant, just newly born.

Yet, the connection between us told me she was aware. Intelligent. Not in the same way humans, mortals or even gods were however.

Her awareness was less about sentience and more about a collective wakefulness.

Every star, every singularity, every superheated rock that would eventually form into a planet was a part of a huge edifice of interconnected Atoms, Electrons, Protons, Quarks...you name it.

She was all of it. Not a centralized or selective consciousness. She was everything at once. Any life that formed in the future would also be part of her.

Bearing a mark that could not be erased.

My mark.

In that same way then, she was me as much as Chase was. A separate entity yet...part of a bigger whole.

I opened my eyes,

Upon my exhale, cosmic nebulae was blown away, black holes would eject hot matter and energy; forming young blue stars the size of several million suns.

Smaller black holes would collapse into singularity, leaving pockets of unstable spatial rifts where energy would gather forming a wide range of cosmic phenomenal.

Some of them might eventually spawn into pocket dimensions or even self sustaining universes.

Though that would take an indescribable amount of time and luck. That was because these rifts were closed the second they emerged.

With nowhere else to go, that energy would then be used to continuously expand the Universe.

"You need a name."

I decided, staring out into the cosmic web, teaming with heat, light, matter and the potential for something incredible.

Life.

I couldn't keep calling her the Universe. She was conscious afterall.

A faint burst of elation came from my creation at the thought of a name. Laughter escaped me. Someone was eager.

I flew forward slowly. But of course slow for me was hundreds of times the speed of light, the surroundings passing by me in a blur.

Which wasn't that much if you considered the scale of the Universe.

I passed a few super clusters, galaxies and even the occasional but rare super massive black hole.

I was still in spirit form, and I needed a body but once I created one for myself, I was excited at the thought of training inside the core of a Black Hole.

It just seemed like an effective way to train.

That was neither here nor there. I had to learn how to walk before I coould run.

So I passed by everything without stopping, ignoring most of the wonderful scenery.

All in a bid to get to the center of the Universe.

I promised myself I would do a grand tour once I was done with the more immediate issues.

For instance, something was calling put to me from said center.

A few things to note, my Universe was approximately 10 trillion light years across. That was almost a hundred times greater than an average sized universe.

Secondly she was unsuitable for life as I knew it.

By that I meant, any weak creature or plant that depended on oxygen or greenhouse gasses would struggle to survive within her.

She was still young. The heat from the Big Bang hang around still, and it would take time before things started cooling down.

The other thing about the Universe, due to it's sheer size; size that was still gradually increasing, the laws of physics governing everything were different.

Gravity was much stronger here, the effects enhanced to contend with the expanding realm.

I could feel it warp around the celestial bodies, a field of potent power that was hard to differentiate from Cosmic Authority.

The life I created here would be on average 20 times more physically resilient than a normal human.

The other thing I noticed was that the closer I got to the center, the hotter and brighter things got.

Finally I arrived.

And if the outskirts of the Universe were beautiful, then the center was indescribable.

Clouds of all possible shades of color floated around a star system, bloated with cosmic radiation and exotic particles.

In the middle of the star system, was a huge purple star sending off heat and bright light across the entire space.

I floated forward slowly, following after the insistent call. The source of which turned out to be a small Tower orbiting the sun.

A very familiar tower.

"The Tower of Fate."

I muttered to myself.