Earth-7 -
The three remaining Gentry stood on the surface of Earth-7, the ground beneath them was ash and bone, the remnants of a civilization that had been erased from existence, its memories scattered across the void. Lord Broken said first. "I can no longer sense Intellectron. He is gone. Erased. Just like Dame Merciless. The Shadow Monarch has claimed another of our number."
Hellmachine's massive form rumbled, "This is a major problem. Our Master will not be pleased. If anything, he may deal with us himself. He does not tolerate failure, he does not tolerate weakness, and we have shown both."
Demogorgunn's multiple heads snarled. "We have never failed before! Not once! Not in all the countless universes we have erased. And now we are failing to contain this threat! Our assessment of the Shadow Monarch's threat was wrong. Severely wrong.. we underestimated him, and now we are paying the price."
Lord Broken's eyes narrowed with realization. "The Anti-Death Equation is meaningless against him. It does not corrupt him nor consume him. It does not even slow him down.. He must die at all costs. We must proceed, regardless of the consequences."
"We tried to contact our Master, there was no response. He is not answering our calls. He is not acknowledging our pleas. He is leaving us to our fate." Hellmachine said.
Lord Broken's eyes narrowed, his voice dropping to a whisper. "It is clear to me why. Because we are failing. Because we are not worthy of his attention. Because we have allowed a single being to dismantle our ranks, to destroy our purpose, to threaten everything we have built!"
Demogorgunn's heads snarled in unison, their voices filled with fury and desperation. "Then we must continue our work here on Earth. We can assume that all of the others are decoys of the Kryptonian as well. We must finish the Darkness Machine.. This is the only way our Master will be pleased, this is the only way we can redeem ourselves."
Lord Broken agreed. "The Kryptonian will show himself alongside the Shadow Monarch, he will understand that using the machine would mean the destruction of his planet. He will have no choice but to confront us. It is then that we will claim him as well."
Hellmachine's form rumbled. "Let us make haste, then. There is no time to waste. The Shadow Monarch is coming."
The Fortress of Solitude - Deep Beneath the Earth
Korin Zor-El stood near the central console, his arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the display that showed the surface of Earth-7. His voice was quiet, "The Gentry has been actively staying on Earth for the last couple of years." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "One reason is that they are looking for me. They want to claim the last remnant of life on this universe."
Raven's eyes narrowed. "And the second reason?"
Korin shook his head slowly, "They have completely changed the planet, as you can see. They are trying to build something. They have been actively doing it for some time now. I have watched them from the Fortress, but I could not stop them. I could not even slow them down."
Raven stepped closer, her voice carrying a note of genuine concern. "Build what?"
Korin's voice was quiet, "I have no idea. Since the Fortress made contact with Intellectron, I have only learned bits and pieces. Some sort of a great plan is at play, a machine that is supposed to unleash something." He paused, his eyes meeting hers. "But I cannot quite understand it. The fragments are too small, too incomplete for me."
He gestured, and the display shifted, showing a hologram of Earth-7. The planet was covered in a web of dark energy, the machine spanned the entire planet, its tendrils reaching into the core, its purpose unknown.
Raven's voice carried a note of genuine shock, her eyes widening. "This shows all of the planet... are you saying this machine occupies the entirety of it?!"
Korin's eyes met hers, "That is what I fear the most. That the planet itself is the machine." He paused, "That everything we are standing on, everything we are fighting for, is part of their plan."
Raven's jaw tightened. "This is very dire.."
Korin's eyes were fixed on the display. "Another problem to think about later. For now, let us wait until Arthur deals with the Gentry. He said he would handle them.. And now only three of them remain."
Raven's voice was quiet as she looked at the hologram of Earth-7. "Of course."
.
.
.
.
Arthur appeared on the cracked surface of Earth-7, his form materializing from a swirl of shadows, his eyes blazing with violet light. His abyssal shadow armor gleamed.
The three remaining Gentry stood before him, their power gathering around them like a shroud of darkness. They were in the middle of something, their hands raised, their power focused on the ground beneath them.
Arthur was amused. "Am I interrupting something?" He said.
Lord Broken's voice was flat. "We know you would come, Monarch of Shadows. We have been expecting you."
Arthur's smile was thin. "Of course, I can't let the three of you survive afterall." He paused, his eyes blazing brighter. "Intellectron and Dame Merciless are gone. It is your turn now, I am getting sick of being an eldritch ghost hunter, so I will take on all three of you." His voice hardened. "The smart one is gone, only three dumbest remain."
The Gentry laughed.
"The machine is complete," Lord Broken said, "Soon, our Master will unleash what he desires. And there is nothing you can do to stop it."
Arthur's eyes narrowed, "The Empty Hand wants to unleash something?" He paused, his mind working through the implications. "That is interesting.. He is a very powerful being, what does he want to unleash, I wonder?"
"That is none of your concern. But it is ironic that you asked that question." He paused, his eyes meeting Arthur's. "You know the answer, and if you don't, the answer itself will surprise even you." His voice dropped to a whisper, "After all, we are all of the same kind, are we not?"
Arthur's eyes narrowed, "I see. You just answered one of my greatest concerns."
"Have we?" Lord Broken said.
Arthur's eyes blazed brigher. "The Empty Hand needs something to unleash. Which means he wants a weapon." He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I say that gives me a chance at beating him."
The Gentry laughed. "You, a being who separated us in order to defeat us, wishes to defeat the right hand of the Great Darkness?"
Arthur said with absolute certainty. "Yes."
"Your arrogance knows no bounds, being of death. We do not need Intellectron to understand this. But there is always a greater being. And our Master, the Empty Hand, tops that list."
Arthur raised a hand toward them, and the shadows erupted around him, their forms writhing and shifting like a sea of darkness.
"Then I will rewrite that list of yours." He paused, his eyes blazing brighter. "But I am afraid you will not be here to see the new list. For the Abyss will claim you, as it did the other two."
The Gentry raised their army of the dead, their forms surging forward to attack Arthur. But Arthur simply floated there, his eyes glowing violet. Their attacks did nothing, they passed through him like water through fingers.
Arthur's smile was thin, cold.
"A battle here is meaningless, and the advantage is yours." He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper. "So let us change the scenery, shall we?"
With a gesture of his hands, the world changed.
The dead Earth disappeared. The bruised sky disappeared. The army of the dead disappeared. And in their place, the Abyss stretched endlessly in every direction, a violet twilight, a sea of shadows, a realm where his will was absolute.
The three remaining Gentry looked around, their forms silhouetted against the infinite darkness. They understood now, they understood how Intellectron and Dame Merciless had fallen. They were mere small beings here. There was nothing they could do.
Lord Broken's voice was barely a whisper, as he realized something dire. "Your connection to the Great Darkness is impressive..." He paused. "No wonder you can be so arrogant."
Arthur's voice was flat. "And yours is weak. Your Master, however, is not." He paused, his eyes blazing brighter. "I am not going to underestimate him. But be sure I will survive whatever he throws at me."
His voice hardened. "This is your end, Gentry. This is retribution for this Earth, for its people, and for Kara Zor-El."
The shadows surged forward, a tide of darkness engulfed the three remaining Gentry, their forms dissolving into the void, their presence fading. Arthur watched with an angry look on his face, his eyes blazing with violet fire.
This was almost personal.
His voice was quiet, almost to himself. 'Why am I angry... This isn't even my Kara, but...'
He looked away after they were erased, his gaze distant, his expression unreadable, he didn't even bother to look back, to check if they were really gone.
The Abyss receded like a tide withdrawing from a shore, its violet twilight fading into the bruised sky of the dead Earth. The Gentry dissolved into nothing, their forms erased from existence, the darkness settled, and the world returned to its silent, broken state as Arthur stood alone on its cracked surface.
He stood there for a long moment, his gaze distant.
Then Arthur's eyes widened.
His body tensed, his gaze snapping toward the darkness at the edge of the ruined city.
"I sense a dark presence." Arthur said.
Arthur's eyes blazed brighter, his hand raising, his power gathering around him like a shroud of darkness.
"Show yourself," Arthur commanded.
/-\
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