Marvel's Green Lantern SI (MarvelxDC)

Olympus burned again in Zeus's memory. He could still see the Phoenix standing above the city, raining fire upon it. Temples vanished beneath waves of flame. Marble ran like wax. Towers collapsed into streets that had once carried processions in Zeus's honor, and every attempt to restrain it only seemed to make the inferno burn brighter.

The helplessness of it all was the worst part.

Zeus, King of Olympus, Lord of the Heavens, wielder of the thunderbolt, had stood within his own realm and watched another being tear it apart while he failed to stop her. Gods who had spent millennia bowing their heads to him had witnessed it. Every pantheon that later heard the tale knew that Olympus had burned and Zeus had been unable to prevent it.

"By the Styx, I will drown the bastard in his own blood!"

Poseidon's voice dragged Zeus back into the throne room. His brother paced furiously before the assembled Olympians, sea-green robes snapping around his legs. Moisture gathered across the marble wherever Poseidon stepped, and the trident clenched in his fist struck the floor hard enough to crack it whenever his anger overwhelmed what little restraint remained.

"My son!" Poseidon thundered. "My own son cast across half of Hellas like some common dog by that impious green wretch. I will drag him beneath the deepest trench of Oceanus and crush him until his bones become sand. I will drown him, restore his breath, and drown him again until he begs the sea itself for mercy."

Poseidon pointed his trident toward Zeus.

"And you permit him to remain here."

The accusation finally silenced the room.

Zeus sat upon his throne with one hand resting beneath his chin. Hera occupied the throne beside him, drinking wine as though Poseidon's threats were no more interesting than another argument between servants. Apollo and Artemis stood near one of the columns, Athena farther back with her arms folded. Dionysus lounged beside a table laden with fruit and wine, while Ares remained near the foot of Zeus's throne with a bruise still visible where the Green Lantern had struck him. Hermes had chosen a seat away from the others and had barely spoken.

"Zeus," Poseidon demanded again.

"Yes, brother. I hear you."

Dionysus leaned forward. "This mortal despises the gods."

Dionysus spread his hands. "He appears without invitation, insults nearly every god gathered here, attacks Olympians, threatens the Anunnaki, and now declares that the child of prophecy will live simply because he has decided it. Perhaps he intends to use the child against us?"

Hera scoffed into her cup.

"Please."

Dionysus frowned.

"The prophecy is nonsense," Hera continued. "Marduk seized upon an ancient verse because it gave him an excuse to murder his half-brother. Everything since then has been gods frightening one another with their own imaginations."

Apollo nodded reluctantly. "The queen is not entirely wrong."

Zeus turned toward his son.

Apollo straightened beneath his attention. "I am a god of prophecy. I have examined the words. I have spoken with others whose domains are the same as mine. None can verify that the interpretation Marduk presents is correct."

"Can you prove it false?" Zeus asked.

Apollo hesitated.

"No."

"Then uncertainty remains."

Zeus rose.

"Whether the prophecy proves true or not is irrelevant for the moment."

Several faces turned toward him.

"This situation has provided something Olympus has lacked for centuries."

Hera's eyes narrowed.

Zeus descended the first step beneath his throne.

"An opportunity."

Ares smiled.

Zeus looked toward the distant doors as though he could see through them, beyond the palace and across Olympus to where the Green Lantern now wandered freely beneath his protection.

"The Green Lantern will die by my hand."

Hera lowered her cup.

"Gaea forbade bloodshed before the council. Have you forgotten already, husband?"

Zeus turned slowly toward her.

"I have forgotten nothing."

He approached Hera's throne.

"Certainly not your hand in the burning of Olympus."

The warmth vanished from her expression.

"My hand?"

"You sent Aphrodite after him."

Hera laughed without humor. "Your daughter carried out that stupidity."

"At your urging."

"And your inability to control your own family somehow becomes my crime?"

Thunder murmured somewhere beyond the palace walls.

Hera lifted her cup again.

"I wonder where your daughter is now."

"Show me Aphrodite, Iris," Zeus demanded.

Rainbow light spread through the center of the throne room, curving upward before flattening into a shimmering window.

The image resolved.

Aphrodite sat in the garden outside her temple.

Across from her sat the Green Lantern. Both were seated upon the grass in meditative postures, legs folded beneath them and eyes closed. Aphrodite's hands rested upon her knees while faint pink-violet light moved around her body. Green light surrounded Max in answer, the two colors occasionally brushing together where their auras met.

Zeus stared.

Ares moved so abruptly that one of the tables beside him shook.

"That whore."

Zeus's anger rose slowly. His daughter's obsession with the Lantern was becoming more apparent by the moment.

The God of War was still glaring at the image, one hand unconsciously touching the place on his face where Max had struck him.

Zeus noticed.

"Ares."

"Father?"

"How were you defeated so easily?"

Ares's expression darkened. "I was not defeated. I could have taken him."

His voice rose. "I needed time. He caught me unprepared, and Gaea interfered before I could properly answer him. Had she not stopped us, I would have shown him the power of the God of War."

Zeus stared down at his son.

"I have no need of excuses, Ares."

His attention shifted.

"Hermes."

No response.

"Hermes."

The messenger god looked up and he looked miserable.

His usual restless confidence had disappeared. He sat hunched forward with his hands clasped, staring at nothing.

"He saw me."

Zeus frowned. "What?"

"When I ran."

Hermes looked toward him, and Zeus saw something there he had almost never seen in his son.

Doubt.

"I am the fastest being in the cosmos. How did he do that, Father? He was able to follow me. He was able to see me as I ran. He was able to catch me."

Hermes swallowed.

"I was moving. Everyone else was still. I could see the dust hanging in the air, but the Green Lantern looked straight at me."

His voice tightened.

"How? How was he faster? I am the messenger god. How could someone be faster than me?"

Zeus descended another step.

"Calm yourself."

"How?"

Hermes stared at him. "How did he do that? I am supposed to be the fastest..." he repeated.

"He is no ordinary mortal," Artemis said.

"That has always been obvious," Poseidon muttered.

"No," Artemis replied. "I mean we may not understand what he is at all."

Ares scoffed.

Artemis ignored him.

"Gaea warned us not to provoke him. She knows he is something else, something beyond what we understand. I do not think even she knows the full measure of him."

Artemis gestured toward the image of the Lantern still sitting with Aphrodite.

"He disappeared four centuries ago. We assumed him dead. Now he returns more powerful than ever."

Her eyes settled upon Zeus.

"Is challenging him wise? It was not he who burned Olympus. The Phoenix did that, and she is dead."

Lightning cracked against the ceiling.

Artemis fell silent.

Zeus stepped toward her.

"If a mortal entered your sacred grove, mocked your authority, struck your followers, and spoke to you as though your divinity meant nothing, would you allow him to walk away?"

Artemis held his gaze for a moment before slowly shaking her head.

"No."

"Then do not ask me to endure what you would not."

He turned toward the others.

"The Green Lantern's irreverence is not merely an insult to me. It is an insult to Olympus and to every divine authority gathered here."

Zeus looked again toward the image of Max.

"I will remind him what it means to stand before the King of the Gods."

Poseidon grinned.

Ares's confidence returned.

Even Dionysus raised his cup in approval.

Only Athena remained silent.

Zeus noticed.

"Athena."

She looked toward him.

"You usually possess wisdom for every occasion. Why are you so quiet now?"

Poseidon gave a short laugh.

"Perhaps wisdom has finally learned when to keep its mouth closed."

Athena did not even look at him. Instead, she studied the image of Max and Aphrodite.

"I am uncertain."

Zeus frowned.

He rarely heard those words from her.

"About what?"

"The Green Lantern." Athena stepped forward. "I cannot quantify his strength."

Ares scoffed. "He bleeds like any mortal."

"So do we, brother."

Athena continued.

"Before his disappearance, I studied reports of his battles. He fought beings whose power equaled or surpassed that of many gods. He confronted threats that required several of us to contain."

Athena's expression remained composed, but Zeus knew his daughter well enough to recognize the concern beneath it.

"Whatever he was four centuries ago, Hermes's account tells us he is more now."

She looked directly at Zeus.

"If you challenge him, do not treat this as the punishment of an arrogant mortal."

Thunder rolled beyond the palace.

Athena stepped closer.

"Fight him as though you are fighting someone who can kill you."

The room went still.

Poseidon's expression darkened.

Ares looked offended on Zeus's behalf.

Zeus himself stared at Athena for several seconds, but she did not lower her eyes.

Finally, Zeus nodded.

"I will remember your counsel, daughter."

He looked back toward the rainbow image. Max and Aphrodite remained exactly where they had been, apparently oblivious to the discussion occurring inside the palace.

Zeus's irritation returned.

"Hermes."

Hermes straightened automatically.

"Bring Aphrodite to me. I would have words with my daughter."

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The day of the Council arrived.

Max and Nur entered the great hall of Olympus, which had been expanded for the gathering. Max suspected several gods had contributed to the work because the interior no longer looked entirely Greek. At the center stood a vast circular table large enough to seat the assembled Godheads, with Gaea given a place among them.

The Olympians occupied several tiers behind Zeus. The Ennead gathered behind Osiris, while Ahura Mazda sat with the Yazatas beyond him. The Devas surrounded Vishnu, with countless other pantheons filling the remaining sections of the hall.

Hundreds of gods.

All gathered to decide whether one unborn child was allowed to exist.

Max and Nur had been seated beside Gaea as guests.

Zeus rose.

Conversation throughout the hall gradually died.

The King of Olympus looked across the gathered pantheons before speaking.

"We all know why we have gathered."

His gaze briefly passed over Max before returning to the Council.

"A mortal woman presently under the protection of Olympus carries a child whose birth has become the subject of a prophecy. The accepted interpretation warns that this child may one day possess the power to overturn the dominion of the gods."

A ripple of discontent moved through the hall. Some gods exchanged uneasy looks, while others openly scoffed at the suggestion. Marduk remained rigid among the Anunnaki, his expression revealing nothing.

Zeus allowed the murmuring to continue for several moments before raising one hand.

Silence returned.

"We are divided on what should be done. Some among us believe the prophecy demands immediate action, that the child must never be permitted to draw breath. Others question the prophecy itself, its interpretation, and whether we would create the very catastrophe we seek to prevent by spilling innocent blood."

His gaze moved slowly across the chamber.

"Thus, we are assembled here. Gods of every pantheon upon this world have answered the summons, and before this Council ends, a decision will be made."

Zeus sat down.

The silence lasted only a moment.

Vishnu spoke first.

"I see no decision to make regarding whether the child should live."

Several gods shifted.

Vishnu remained calm.

"Whatever it may become, it has committed no wrong. To kill a child because we fear what it might one day do would not preserve divine order. It would reveal that our order deserves to fall."

Marduk's expression darkened immediately.

Ahura Mazda nodded.

"Justice cannot punish an act before it exists. The prophecy is uncertain, its origin unknown, and its meaning disputed. Fear is not evidence."

Osiris spoke next.

"Judgment follows deeds. It does not precede life itself."

Agreement came from several sections of the hall.

Altjira's voice was quieter, though the hall listened when he spoke.

"You speak of the future as though it were stone. It is not. A child may become a destroyer, a guardian, a ruler, or nothing remembered at all. Every action taken here changes the path you claim to fear."

Kāne agreed.

"If danger exists, then find another road. Murder cannot be the first solution simply because it is the easiest."

Itzamna raised one hand before the argument could swing entirely in one direction.

"I support allowing the child to live. That does not mean ignoring what makes this birth unique. The child should be observed and studied."

Nur's jaw tightened beside Max.

Izanagi followed with similar caution.

"Life should not be taken without cause. If the danger becomes real, safeguards may be necessary later."

Svarog grunted.

"The prophecy may be exaggerated, but anyone dismissing it entirely is a fool. Let the child live. Watch it. If it becomes what the prophecy warns, act then."

Viracocha proposed that the child remain under joint divine protection rather than belonging to any single pantheon, while Shou-Hsing rejected the idea of condemning a life before its first breath so completely that several gods behind him applauded.

Ulgen's argument was simpler.

"The child lives until it gives us reason otherwise."

Tomazooma's attention remained fixed on Marduk.

"I find it especially difficult to hear arguments of necessity from a god seeking the death of his own half-sibling."

The hall erupted.

Marduk slammed one hand against the table.

"You know nothing of my family."

"I know enough."

Nergal shouted something from behind the Anunnaki seats, and several other gods answered him at once.

Gaea raised one hand.

The noise diminished reluctantly.

Quetzalcoatl waited until enough silence returned.

"Has no one considered that murdering the child might fulfill the prophecy?"

That produced considerably more silence.

He looked around the table.

"Prophecies are rarely kind to those who attempt to escape them. If this child is destined to turn against the gods, perhaps the reason will be because the gods murdered its mother, hunted it from birth, or treated it as an abomination."

Max liked him immediately.

Buluku spoke afterward, less concerned with the prophecy than with what the dispute itself was doing.

"Whatever we decide, the pantheons must not go to war over it. Protect the mother. Protect the child. Investigate the prophecy without allowing fear to turn this Council into another conflict."

Hodiak agreed that no execution could be justified without proof. Hwanin took much the same position, while Ukko argued that allowing the child to live now did not prevent another Council from being called if genuine danger emerged later.

For a while, Max almost believed sanity might win without his involvement. Then Marduk stood.

"You are all cowards."

That changed things. Several Godheads stared at him, but Marduk did not care.

"You hide fear beneath words like justice and patience because none of you wish to make the necessary choice. The prophecy states that changed blood will break the dominion born from the Demiurge. What greater warning do you require?"

Vishnu's expression remained calm.

"One whose meaning is clear would be a useful beginning."

Marduk ignored him.

"Perhaps the Anunnaki will be the first to die. Perhaps that is why the rest of you find hesitation so easy. You imagine yourselves safe because the child carries our blood."

Enki, father of both Marduk and the unborn child, rose behind him.

"Marduk. You speak as though the future has already happened. It has not. Your half-brother may never become what you fear."

"He is an abomination."

Several gods shouted in anger.

Nur started to rise.

Max caught his forearm.

"Not yet."

Nur slowly sat again.

Enki's expression turned colder.

"Whatever resentment you carry toward me does not give you the right to decide whether this child deserves life."

"You would gamble our family on sentiment?"

"I would not murder my own blood because a verse frightened me."

The Anunnaki section broke into competing arguments. Ishtar openly supported Enki, while Nergal backed Marduk. Nanna demanded further investigation. Amurru argued that the child should be removed from mortal society entirely until its nature became clear.

The argument spread.

Soon every pantheon seemed to contain its own smaller council.

Some gods wanted the child dead.

Others wanted protection.

Several proposed removing its divinity after birth, considering that a merciful compromise. Others argued that its mutant nature should be suppressed instead. One god suggested separating mother and child immediately. Another insisted they should be confined within a divine realm where neither could influence mortal history.

Max listened until the arguments began repeating themselves. Every solution revolved around what the gods wanted, and eventually Max had enough.

Emerald light formed beside him, and a large construct loudspeaker appeared directly over the center of the circular table. Max tapped the construct, and the resulting boom silenced the entire hall.

"Right."

Hundreds of gods looked at him. Max leaned back in his seat. "Us poor mortals were apparently allowed to speak, so I'd like to use that privilege now."

Marduk began to object, but Gaea spoke first. "He has the right."

Marduk sat back with visible reluctance as Max looked around the table.

"I've heard a lot of arguments today." He paused. "I didn't like most of them."

Several gods frowned.

"I spoke with Gaea about one of your favorite compromises: removing the child's divinity." His eyes moved across the Council. "According to her, you cannot guarantee that doing so won't kill it, permanently cripple it, damage its soul, or produce consequences none of you understand."

Max raised a second finger. "Second, this prophecy sounds like bullshit."

That brought considerably more outrage, but Max continued over it. "And judging by everything I've heard today, a lot of you think the same thing. You're just too paranoid to admit it."

Zeus leaned forward. "It is our lives that may be imperiled, Lantern. Easy for you to dismiss when the prophecy does not threaten you."

Max looked at him. "I care about your lives."

Zeus seemed surprised.

"I care about all life. That doesn't mean I'm going to let you all murder a baby because Marduk supposedly heard a prophecy and decided his half-brother needed to die."

Marduk rose.

"Sit down before I make you eat sand again," Max said, looking directly at him, and a few gods laughed.

Max turned back toward the others. "Does anyone here even know where this prophecy came from?"

Silence answered him until Khonshu spoke from among the Ennead. "The Lantern is correct. We do not."

Max nodded.

"So here's my position. The mother lives. The child lives. Nobody removes anything from it, nobody locks it away for the crime of existing, and nobody touches either of them unless they actually do something that justifies intervention."

Zeus's eyes narrowed.

This was the moment.

He had spent the last several days considering how to maneuver the Lantern into precisely the confrontation he wanted. If the Green Lantern rejected the Council's authority openly enough, Zeus could challenge him as Olympus's champion without violating Gaea's prohibition against unprovoked violence.

Max kept talking. "And since we're apparently deciding who gets the right to protect them..."

Zeus stopped as Max turned toward him, and the expression on the Green Lantern's face changed. Zeus recognized it immediately as a challenge.

"Zeus, King of Olympus."

The entire hall quieted.

"You currently protect the mother and the child she carries."

Zeus slowly rose. "I do."

Max stood as well. "Then I challenge you."

A murmur spread through the gods, and Max smiled. "A duel. You and me. Winner takes responsibility for protecting the mother and child."

For perhaps the first time that day, Zeus felt genuine delight. Around him, several gods began shouting, and Marduk surged to his feet. "You cannot decide this through combat!"

Max looked toward him. "Funny. You seemed fine with violence before."

Zeus smiled. "I accept."

The hall erupted. Gods who supported the child protested that there was no need for such a contest, while those who wanted it dead argued that neither combatant had the authority to remove the matter from the Council.

When Gaea stood, everything gradually quieted. She looked first at Max, then at Zeus. "Both claim the right to protect the mother and child."

Neither moved.

"Both consent to trial by combat."

Max nodded, and Zeus said, "So do I."

Gaea looked around the chamber.

"Then it is settled. Zeus will stand as champion of the Godheads and of the divine protection presently extended to the woman. The Green Lantern will challenge that claim. Whoever prevails will hold the right of protection over mother and child, subject to their own consent once this matter is concluded."

Max rolled his shoulders. "Great. Let's not waste four more hours talking about it."

Zeus laughed. "You wish to fight now?"

"Why not?"

Zeus stepped away from the table. "Very well." He looked toward Gaea. "Grandmother, would you provide us with an appropriate venue?"

Gaea regarded both of them as though wondering whether every male in her bloodline eventually became an idiot, then raised one hand.

Nur leaned toward Max. "You are certain about this?"

Max looked at him. "Relax."

The world changed. One moment Max stood inside the Great Hall of Olympus, and the next his boots rested upon dark stone beneath an open sky. He looked around and realized they had returned to Earth, though nowhere he immediately recognized. An enormous arena stretched across a barren landscape, surrounded by rising tiers of stone capable of seating every god who had attended the Council with considerable room to spare.

Max stood near one end of the battlefield, and Zeus stood opposite him. The air around the King of Olympus smelled of ozone, and dark clouds had already begun gathering above the arena despite the clear sky beyond it.

Gaea descended between them, and her voice carried throughout the arena. "This contest has been entered willingly by both champions. Neither pantheon nor ally will interfere once the battle begins." Her orange eyes moved first to Zeus, then to Max. "The contest ends when one combatant surrenders..."

Nur nodded approvingly from the stands.

"...or dies."

Nur nearly stood. "What?"

Several gods looked toward him, but Nur only stared at Gaea, then down at Max. "Death?"

Beside him, Aphrodite seemed far less concerned. "Oh, yes. But my dear En Sabah Nur, worry less for Max." She smiled faintly. "Worry for my father, if you wish."

Ares, seated several places away, heard her, and his face reddened. "You dare speak so of our father, you faithless whore?"

Aphrodite's eyes turned violet, and she flicked two fingers. A glowing violet construct snapped into existence around Ares's head, sealing his mouth before he could finish whatever insult came next. While Ares grabbed at it furiously, Aphrodite turned back toward the arena as though nothing had happened.

Nur stared at her, then down at Max. "Right," he muttered.

Below them, Zeus raised one hand, and lightning answered. Max rolled his neck once and looked across the arena at the King of Olympus.

It was time for the Contest of Champions.

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