Marvel's Green Lantern SI (MarvelxDC)

Max and Zeus faced one another across the marbled floor of the arena.

The gods surrounding them had fallen silent again. Zeus rolled one shoulder, lightning crawling over his body. His eyes remained fixed on Max with an anticipation that suggested he had been replaying this moment in his head for years.

"Long have I waited for this."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought you found out I was alive four days ago."

A brief silence followed.

Zeus moved with a battle cry, crossing the distance between them almost instantly. His fist came for Max's head with enough force to distort the air around it, but Max leaned aside and allowed it to pass before drifting backward.

Zeus followed.

Another punch came for his ribs. Max twisted around it.

A third aimed for his jaw.

Max moved his head less than an inch.

"Stop moving!"

Max laughed as he continued gliding backward. "It's called dodging."

Zeus lunged again, and Max disappeared upward.

The King of Olympus looked around just as Max dropped behind him and drove one fist between his shoulders.

Zeus stumbled several steps forward. The watching gods reacted immediately. Poseidon half rose from his seat while Ares gripped the edge of the stone before him. Athena remained still, though her eyes tracked Max with growing intensity.

Zeus turned with a snarl.

Lightning erupted from both hands.

Max raised an emerald shield.

The first bolt struck hard enough to send fractures racing through the construct. A second came from above, then a third from his left as Zeus manipulated the storm around them, forcing Max to form additional barriers in rapid succession.

Each strike exploded against green light.

Max watched Zeus through the shield and smiled.

"My turn."

He dropped the barriers and accelerated.

Zeus barely raised his forearms before Max struck him in the chest.

The impact drove the Olympian backward.

Max followed with a second punch, then a third, forcing Zeus to give ground as the two of them crossed the arena. Zeus recovered and caught Max's next strike against his palm before answering with an elbow aimed at his temple.

Max blocked it.

Their movements accelerated.

Punches, elbows, knees, and short, brutal kicks replaced the larger displays of power as both men began testing one another at close range. Zeus's attacks were direct, heavy, and intended to overwhelm. Max redirected instead of absorbing, slipping past rather than meeting force head-on. Every time Zeus committed too much weight to a strike, Max punished him for it.

A punch missed, and Max answered by striking Zeus in the ribs. Zeus brought a knee upward, but Max caught it and threw him sideways. Zeus twisted before he could land and came back with a lightning-covered fist, which Max blocked against both forearms, and the force of the impact sent them apart.

Around the arena, the gods had stopped treating this as entertainment.

"What power does this mortal possess?" one of the gods demanded.

Another answered, "No mortal moves like that."

Nur stood from his seat with both hands raised. "COME ON, MAX!"

Several gods turned toward him, but Nur did not care. "Break his nose!"

Aphrodite laughed beside him.

Below, Max looked toward the stands for half a second, and Zeus attacked while he was distracted. Max turned back just as lightning struck him across the chest and hurled him through several layers of stone. Zeus smiled.

Then red light exploded from the crater.

WHUM.

WHUM.

Red light gathered behind Max's eyes.

WHUM. WHUM.

The Omega Beams erupted.

Zeus moved. The twin streams carved through the ground where he had stood and immediately changed direction after him.

The King of Olympus accelerated across the arena.

The beams followed. Zeus flew upward, then sharply to the side. Still they followed. He twisted around one column, dropped beneath another, then deliberately crossed the paths of the two beams in an attempt to make them strike one another.

One turned too sharply and slammed into the ground, tearing open a burning trench.

Zeus grinned.

The second beam curved around the explosion.

His grin vanished.

It struck him squarely in the chest, and Zeus plummeted toward the ground.

Max was already moving. He flew upward, then descended after Zeus and drove both feet into the Olympian's torso before he could reach the ground.

The arena exploded beneath them.

Stone rose in waves as Max landed over Zeus, grabbed him by one arm, and hauled him from the crater before swinging him into the ground again, once, twice, three times. Poseidon stared in shock, while Ares looked personally offended.

Max lifted Zeus again, and emerald light appeared around them as several humanoid constructs began to form. Zeus froze. The first took the shape of Europa and the second became Leda, followed by Callisto, Antiope, and Metis, with more appearing behind them. Zeus's face changed from rage to disbelief.

"What is this?"

Max grinned. "A trip down memory lane."

Europa struck first, punching Zeus across the face.

"Remember them, Zeus? All of them. The women you forced yourself upon," Max said as Leda struck him from the other side.

Callisto drove a knee into his stomach and Antiope followed with an elbow, but Metis simply slapped him, and the sound echoed across the arena.

Several gods went completely silent. Hera slowly lowered her cup as she tried to stop herself from laughing, and Aphrodite covered her mouth for the same reason. Nur stared for a moment before laughing so hard he had to sit down.

Zeus staggered between the constructs, too shocked by the insult to react properly before Max dismissed all of them at once. Max's fist came upward, and the uppercut connected beneath Zeus's jaw with enough force to rupture the arena floor. Zeus flew several hundred feet before crashing back down hard enough to leave another crater.

Silence spread through the gods. The King of Olympus remained there for several seconds before slowly getting back to his feet.

His breathing had changed. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He looked up as Max stepped away from the crater with that same infuriating smile still on his face.

How?

He had fought Titans.

Giants.

Gods.

Monsters born before mortal civilization.

Yet half the time, he could barely see Max's attacks coming.

Athena had been right.

The realization tasted bitter.

He had underestimated him.

"I underestimated you, Lantern."

Max spread his arms slightly.

Zeus laughed, though anger burned beneath it.

"But now let me show you the true might of..."

Max sighed and looked toward the sky, then back at Zeus.

"Zeus, while there is absolutely nothing I'd rather do than stand here listening to you explain how mighty Olympus is until the stars burn out, I actually have things to do."

Zeus stopped.

Max pointed upward.

Several gods followed his gesture.

Something was changing in the heavens.

At first, it looked like little more than a distortion, but in reality the Nine Realms were moving toward alignment. The Convergence would begin in four or five hours, perhaps less.

Zeus's expression darkened when Max looked back at him.

Max spread his arms.

"So here's the deal, Zeus."

He grinned as smugly as he could manage.

"Hit me."

Zeus stared.

"What?"

"Hit me. As hard as you can."

A contemptuous laugh came from the Olympian king.

"You mock me."

"Nooo. I would not dare..."

Max shook his head.

"I'm giving you a chance. And don't misunderstand what I'm asking."

His smile widened.

"Not half strength. Not whatever impressive little percentage you've been using because you want to make this dramatic."

The storm above them intensified.

"I want you to hit me as hard as you possibly can."

Thunder rolled across the entire arena.

Zeus's eyes began turning white.

"And if I refuse to indulge your arrogance?"

Max shrugged. "Then I suppose your father was right about you."

Poseidon winced, Hera's eyes widened, and Athena closed hers briefly.

Lightning erupted from the King of Olympus. The sky disappeared beneath storm clouds. Power gathered around Zeus until the marble beneath his feet began to melt, and every lesser god nearby raised shields against the pressure alone.

Zeus moved.

There was no warning.

No battle cry.

Just rage.

He crossed the arena with every fragment of strength he possessed behind one fist and drove it into the side of Max's head.

The world shook.

Mountains split beyond the arena.

Clouds were torn apart by the shockwave, leaving a circular opening through the storm. Entire sections of the arena groaned under the pressure, and several watching gods were forced backward despite Gaea's protections.

Dust and divine light swallowed everything, and for several seconds no one could see either combatant. Then the air cleared, and Max was still standing.

His head had been knocked to one side and blood ran from his cheek, but nothing more. Zeus's fist remained pressed against his face.

Max blinked. "Ooooo." He slowly turned his eyes toward Zeus. "Consider that nerve touched."

Zeus stared at him. "How?"

Max smiled. "Because, Zeus..."

Emerald light began burning around his body. The air changed, and suddenly something vast seemed to stand behind Max. It was not fully manifested, not even close, yet enough of Ion seeped through him that several gods instinctively moved backward.

"You're either strong enough to stop me..." His eyes ignited with red and green light. "...or you're not."

WHUM.

The Omega Beams struck Zeus point-blank.

The blast drove him backward across the arena, burning across his body as he tried to brace against it. Zeus roared and attempted to push through, but Max increased the force and sent him crashing through the far wall.

Max followed.

He reached Zeus before the god had even finished falling.

One punch struck his stomach. Another hit his jaw, and a third connected with his chest. Zeus tried to answer, but Max slipped around the blow and struck him twice more before driving a knee into his ribs.

The King of Olympus staggered.

Max turned and kicked him downward.

Zeus hit the ground hard enough to bury himself beneath another section of the shattered arena.

"Wow," Nur whispered. "Max was not kidding when he said he got stronger."

Zeus planted one hand against the broken marble and forced himself upright. Max stood several dozen paces away and looked considerably less impressed.

"See, Zeus, this is what happens when you don't listen."

Zeus glared at him.

Max rolled one shoulder, working out the stiffness left by the punch Zeus had finally managed to land.

"But since apparently following simple instructions is difficult for the King of Olympus, I'll give you one more chance."

He spread his arms again.

"You. Me. Hard as you can."

His smile returned.

"Are we clear?"

Something broke behind Zeus's eyes. The laughter, the constructs shaped like women from his past, the gods watching him struggle, the humiliation of it all. Lightning began crawling over Zeus's body again, but this time there was no restraint behind it. His muscles tightened as divine power flooded every part of him, veins standing out across his arms while the air surrounding him distorted beneath the gathering charge.

A smile spread across his face.

It was not a pleasant one.

"Oh, yes."

Thunder rolled across the world.

"I will show you."

Zeus began laughing.

"Hahahahahaha!"

Nur stared down from the stands.

He slowly turned toward Gaea and the Olympians seated nearby. "This would probably be an excellent time to tell him to surrender."

Apollo nodded immediately. "I agree."

Ares rounded on him. "Traitor!"

Apollo gave his brother an incredulous look. "Have you been watching the same battle?"

Aphrodite remained focused on her father as the energy surrounding him continued climbing.

"There is literally nothing left he could do to make this situation worse," she said.

The sky above the arena darkened.

Aphrodite paused.

"Except perhaps destroy the world."

Zeus rose into the air.

Lightning converged around his raised hand, streams of white-blue power arriving from every direction as the storm above him expanded beyond the arena. Clouds spread across the horizon, swallowing the daylight until the only illumination came from the growing weapon in Zeus's grasp.

A bolt of lightning began taking shape.

Zeus screamed as he forced more power into it. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Oh... he's going to destroy the planet," Aphrodite said.

"BUT I LIVE HERE!" Nur screamed.

Panic spread through the stands.

Several gods stood at once.

"Zeus, stop!"

Apollo moved toward the edge of the arena. "Father!"

Athena's face had gone pale.

Poseidon was no longer smiling.

Even Marduk looked uneasy as the divine charge continued growing.

Apollo stared upward at his father before glancing toward the gathered Godheads. "So perhaps this is how the prophecy comes to pass."

That silenced several people.

"What?" Artemis asked.

Apollo gestured wildly toward Zeus. "We gather because we fear a child might destroy the gods, then Father destroys Earth trying to prove he is stronger. Prophecy has worked with less irony."

Below them, Max stood at the center of the arena and watched the bolt grow.

The smile on his face widened.

"Oh-ho. That's much better!" Max shouted upward. "I can actually feel that!"

Nur leaned over the barrier. "MAX, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO ENCOURAGE HIM!"

Zeus looked down. His eyes had become pure white, and his body was almost impossible to distinguish beneath the lightning surrounding him.

"In mere moments, Lantern, the only thing you shall feel is oblivion."

Max tilted his head. "That, or disappointment." His smile returned. "Go ahead. Flip the coin."

Aphrodite stepped toward the arena. "FATHER! Your pride is not worth destroying the world!"

Nur glanced sideways. "I think we're considerably past negotiation."

"COME ON, ZEUS!" Max shouted. "SHOW ME YOUR POWER!"

The Skyfathers were standing now.

Vishnu's calm had finally disappeared. "Zeus, enough!"

Osiris lifted his staff. "Withdraw the attack."

Gaea stepped forward. "ZEUS."

The command shook the arena, and for one instant even Zeus hesitated. Then he looked down at Max, and Max smiled at him.

That was enough. Zeus roared and threw the bolt.

For a fraction of a second, Max continued smiling. Then his expression changed as he felt the power coming toward him and realized he had severely miscalculated.

Max's eyes widened.

"OH SHI..."

Both hands came up.

Emerald light exploded outward as the lightning struck, and suddenly there was nothing but white.

The impact became visible from orbit.

A pillar of divine light punched through Earth's atmosphere while the shockwave raced outward beneath it. Clouds vanished across hundreds of miles. Mountain slopes cracked in the distance as forests bent beneath winds that arrived without warning.

Aphrodite raised one hand as violet light erupted around her and expanded across the stands, forming an immense barrier over the gathered gods. The construct flexed under the pressure but held as the storm of divine power crashed against it.

Nur threw one arm across his face. "OH, FUCK!"

The light continued for several agonizing seconds before it finally began to fade. The world had not ended, because Max had absorbed the entire blast himself.

Zeus descended slowly.

The transformation in him was already fading. The unnatural bulk across his muscles diminished as the divine power he had gathered dispersed, leaving his body trembling from the effort. His chest heaved beneath what remained of his armor.

He looked toward the center of the arena, where a crater now stretched across the ground, and for several seconds nothing moved. Nur leaned forward, and Aphrodite's smile was gone.

Then something shifted beneath the smoke, and Max pushed himself upright as he spat blood onto the broken ground.

His clothing had vanished entirely, burned away by the blast, while injuries crossed his body from shoulder to leg. Several were already closing, emerald light moving beneath his skin.

When Zeus saw him, a grin spread across the Olympian's face. "Hah... hah..." His breathing remained ragged. "Hard enough for you?"

The Olympian section erupted. Ares jumped to his feet with a shout of "YES!" while Poseidon laughed and slammed his trident against the ground, and Dionysus raised his cup. Even gods who had opposed Zeus stared in disbelief at the damage he had finally inflicted.

Zeus began laughing again. "Hahahahahahahaha!"

Max remained crouched for another moment. Then he looked up, and he was smiling.

Zeus's laughter faltered. Max glanced briefly toward the stands. "Well." He stood. "I hope everyone got a good look at the goods."

Max reconstructed his clothing around himself, dark emerald material spreading across his body before forming his coat once more.

"Because that's the last time you're all seeing me naked."

Zeus noticed Max's right hand. "No."

Max looked down at the weapon he now held, the very same weapon Zeus had thrown at him: the Thunderbolt of Zeus. He turned it once in his hand, and Zeus's mouth opened.

"How..."

The gods who had been cheering moments earlier went silent.

Max looked toward Zeus. "You dropped this."

Zeus descended and landed near Max as lightning exploded from both hands, and Max walked through it. The first bolt struck his shoulder and dispersed around the green aura surrounding him, another hit his chest, and a third crashed against his face, but he kept walking.

Zeus fired again. "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?"

When Max reached him, Zeus raised both hands.

Max punched him.

The King of Olympus flew backward and struck the ground hard enough to bounce before sliding across the shattered stone.

The Thunderbolt remained in Max's hand.

Zeus tried to rise, but his arms shook beneath him and refused to support his weight. Max approached at an unhurried pace until he stood directly over the fallen Olympian, looking down at him with something almost resembling curiosity.

"I wonder..."

Zeus's breathing slowed.

"If I'd fought your father instead, would he have lasted a little longer?"

Zeus froze.

Max looked at the Thunderbolt in his hand.

Emerald light began gathering around his fingers, but it was different from the ordinary glow of his constructs. Tiny points of brilliance appeared within it, countless stars suspended inside the green as Max allowed a fraction more of Ion to flow through his physical body.

The light spread across his palm and into the ancient weapon, surrounding the Thunderbolt until its own divine energy began reacting violently.

Zeus's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

Max gripped the weapon with both hands. "No."

The Thunderbolt groaned. Zeus forced one knee beneath himself despite the pain coursing through his body. "What are you...?"

Max bent it. For an instant the weapon resisted, and lightning exploded from its surface and raced over Max's arms, but then Max tightened his grip.

CRACK.

The Thunderbolt broke in half.

The release of power exploded across the arena. A golden shockwave ripped outward from Max, scattering broken stone and forcing several gods in the nearest seats to shield themselves. Thunder rolled across the sky while fragments of divine energy spiraled away from the two broken halves.

Zeus stared.

He did not seem capable of understanding what he was seeing.

The weapon he had carried into wars against Titans and Giants, the symbol of his authority as King of Olympus, lay broken between Max's hands.

Max looked at the two pieces.

Then he dropped them.

Both halves struck the ground in front of Zeus.

Whatever remained of the Olympian's pride seemed to collapse with them.

Zeus tried to stand once more.

His body refused.

Max's eyes began to glow.

WHUM.

Zeus looked up.

WHUM.

Red-green energy intensified behind Max's eyes, painting the shattered arena in its light.

For the first time since their battle began, Zeus looked genuinely afraid.

No, he was terrified.

Max fired.

The Omega Beams struck him point-blank in the chest. Zeus's body jerked beneath the impact as the blast drove him into the broken ground, and what remained of his resistance vanished. When the beams finally disappeared, the King of Olympus lay unconscious beside the shattered pieces of his own weapon.

Silence swallowed the arena.

Hundreds of gods simply stared down at Max, then at Zeus, then at the broken Thunderbolt lying between them.

Max looked around at the stands.

"KO!" he shouted, raising one arm.

Gaea descended into the arena.

She landed beside Zeus and studied him briefly, confirming what everyone already knew before turning toward Max.

"The contest is concluded."

Her voice carried throughout the silent arena.

"The victor is the Green Lantern."

Gaea turned toward the assembled Council of Godheads.

"By the terms accepted before this battle, the right of protection passes to him."

Several gods exchanged uneasy looks, but no one objected.

Gaea's orange eyes returned to Max.

"The mother and her unborn child will leave Olympus under your protection."

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Agamotto's sanctuary felt almost unnaturally peaceful after Olympus.

Max stood near one of the open arches overlooking the mountains, watching clouds drift through the valleys below while the distant sound of voices carried from deeper inside the sanctuary. He, Nur, Aphrodite, and Gaea had left Olympus almost immediately after Zeus's defeat, taking the mother with them. The excitement of the last few days had taken its toll, and the child was coming early.

Max had expected his reunion with Agamotto to be joyous, but he had not expected the old sorcerer to start crying the moment he saw him, and his heart had broken at the sight of his old friend. For several seconds they had simply stared at one another, neither apparently certain how to begin after centuries of absence. Then Agamotto had crossed the room and embraced him, and Max had barely managed to return the hug before his old friend began apologizing for Firehair, for Aurora, and for failing to stop what had happened. Max had heard the same guilt in Nur days earlier, and he comforted his old friend in much the same way.

Now the three of them waited outside the chamber where Gaea and Aphrodite were helping deliver the baby.

"Do you think Zeus and the others will try something?" Nur asked, still somewhat paranoid after everything that had happened.

"No."

Nur turned toward Max, who leaned against one of the stone columns. "They know exactly how powerful I am now."

Agamotto, seated nearby, nodded. "Max is correct."

Nur looked toward him, and Agamotto rested both hands upon the head of his staff. "We are all under Max's protection now. No god will come after us."

Before Max could answer, golden light appeared near them, and Enki stepped from it. The Anunnaki god looked exhausted.

"Ah," Max said. "The father finally arrives."

Enki looked toward him, then bowed his head. "Green Lantern, I thank you once more for what you did."

Max nodded.

"This child..." Enki paused, searching for the right words. "I have had many children across the ages. Gods are rarely careful with such things."

Nur snorted, but Enki ignored him.

"But this one is different. The first I have had in millennia that I..." His voice softened. "I wish to be there for her."

Max studied him. "I hope you mean that."

"I do."

The doors opened, and every head turned as Gaea emerged first. "The child is healthy."

Enki exhaled. Aphrodite appeared behind Gaea, carrying a bundle wrapped carefully in pale cloth. "She is beautiful."

Enki crossed the room immediately. "What did her mother name her?" he asked.

Aphrodite smiled. "Candra."

Enki looked down at his daughter. "Candra," he repeated, more softly this time. "A great name."

As the others gathered around the baby, Aphrodite touched Max's arm. When he looked toward her, she nodded toward the corridor, and Max followed. They walked until the others' voices had faded behind them, eventually reaching another open terrace overlooking the valley.

Aphrodite leaned against the railing. "I will not return to Olympus."

Max looked at her. "Probably a good idea."

She laughed, but the amusement slowly faded. "I need time away from them."

Max nodded.

"I need to learn more about what I am now." She looked down at her hands. "I thought I understood it, but from what you have told me, I barely know anything." Her eyes briefly glowed violet as she looked back toward him. "I need to understand myself more before I decide what comes next."

She stepped closer and brushed her fingers through his beard. Max looked down at her, and she kissed him. He returned it without hesitation, one hand settling lightly against her waist before they slowly separated.

Aphrodite remained close for another moment. "You know where to find me."

Violet light surrounded her, and then she disappeared.

Max stared at the empty space where she had stood before lifting his gaze toward the sky. The Convergence was fully upon them.

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Olympus had never felt so quiet.

Zeus sat alone within his private chambers, or what remained of them. One wall had collapsed entirely, and furniture lay shattered across the floor. The great table near the center had been reduced to splinters, while several statues had been destroyed so completely that only broken feet remained upon their pedestals, and lightning had burned black scars across the marble.

"How?" No answer came. "How could he..."

His voice failed, and then something spoke.

"My boy."

Zeus froze and lifted his head. He knew that voice.

"Father?"

Silence answered him. It was not his father, he realized, but someone else, though the voice still felt strangely familiar. Zeus stood slowly. "Who's there?"

The darkness seemed deeper than before, and then the voice returned. "I have been with you since the beginning, my boy."

Zeus turned toward the ruined chamber. "Show yourself."

A mirror stood against the only untouched section of wall, and its surface darkened.

"I have returned because you need me."

Something appeared within the reflection. A figure stood where Zeus's reflection should have been, tall and indistinct and wrapped in darkness so complete that even the shape of its body seemed uncertain. Only the eyes were clear, and they burned yellow.

"I felt your pain."

Zeus stepped closer. "Who are you?"

The figure tilted its head. "Have you truly forgotten?"

Zeus stopped. He had seen those eyes before, long ago, before the Titanomachy, when he was still a child under Gaea's care and still lived in fear of his father, afraid for his siblings and his mother. Sometimes the voice had whispered encouragement to him, and sometimes warnings, and he had believed them dreams.

The yellow eyes brightened. "Allow me to help you once more."

Zeus stared into them.

"This does not have to be your defeat." The figure leaned closer within the reflection.

"They will fear you once more."

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DBZA

Max v Zues

You can read up to chapter 117 here.