jla_watchtower | A Darker Justice

Arms folded, Black Adam hovers before a great window, offering him a spectacular view of Shiruta, and the surrounding Kahndaqi countryside. His efforts to modernize Kahndaq's infrastructure have been proceeding well enough - his primary partner in the effort, Talia, has been focusing her attention elsewhere, forcing Adam to take a slower pace. For all of that, though, Kahndaq is rapidly catching up to its neighbor nations. Indoor plumbing is now prevalent in all areas of the nation, and the country has just completed its second power plant. His advisors have informed him that at the current pace Kahndaq will become the most modernized country in this region of the world within five years.

It is not enough. Kahndaq must have the might to defend itself from any threat. The messy affair with Mordru impressed upon Black Adam just how important it is to have a powerful following. He alone will not always be there to defend the nation.

Atom Smasher is a good start. Brainwave and Northwind are both powerful, worthy of Black Adam's respect. But three men alone cannot defend a nation. Kahndaq needs more defenders.

Which is why, days ago, Brainwave was sent to America. If all goes well, Brainwave will be returning with a new recruit. And while Joseph Wilson alone will not be enough, he will be the beginning. The first of an army.

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The air in the throne room crackles and appears to part. First to appear is a shadow, which solidifies and then fades away, revealing an uninvited guest.

He takes the area into account, and clears his throat, speaking in stilted Kahndaqi. "Mighty Adam. I seek an audience if possible..."

Black Adam turns, facing the apparition. He recognizes the form easily. Across the centuries, Lex Luthor still cuts an unmistakable figure.

Teleportation. A new weapon in Luthor's arsenal, but Black Adam long ago learned not to underestimate this man. Mortal though he may be, Luthor's genius is of a kind with those rare few who know the blessings of Zehuti.

Black Adam studies Luthor from above, scrutinizing his features. His Kahndaqi hasn't improved with time. Perhaps he has improved in other ways, however.

"I will give you an audience, Luthor. For your sake, I hope it is worth my time."

The Kahndaqi sovereign settles onto his throne, gesturing for Luthor to begin with one hand.

"I have seen things, Adam. I know that you, at heart still feel as if something is missing from this world. Or..." He stops, searching for the words. "...your world is gone." He's fully into view now, dialing something down on his glove.

"I know why. I can help you answer what you wish to know."

Black Adam's face hardens. Lex's words strike a nerve, but he is not willing to commit on that alone. Any mind, even his own, can be manipulated. A few unpleasant dreams, a vague sensation... these things alone are not enough to commit allegiances to.

"Can you..." echoes Adam skeptically. He speaks in Luthor's native English, though only so the man doesn't have to struggle through the notoriously difficult Kahndaqi tongue.

"It occurs to me, Luthor, that any things I may feel or sense could just as easily be fabrications conjured by your followers. What prove have you that the knowledge you are about to tell me is not just a clever fabrication of your own invention?"

"My followers?" Luthor steps to the side, glancing out at the country. "I have no followers. What I have, I built."

"Its always how I have done, my King. I did not rely on an alien birth, nor a magic ring, or a Wizard's curse to be who I am. I am truly an island now." Lex begins to rub at his temples.

"Enough of that, however. I did not plan on insulting you with offers, or a negotiation. Just to let you know. I have seen things. Things that I cannot even fully explain. And you were there, Mighty Adam. Those who shared your power as well. A world that fit you."

Luthor hasn't made any requests. He hasn't tried to bargain for any favors. It's a different exchange from the Luthor Black Adam remembers, the Luthor who masterminded the Secret Society and was obsessed to the point of madness with the destruction of Superman.

Surely, there can be no harm in hearing what Luthor has to say, if that is all he has come here for.

"I have not shared my power with others in many years..." Black Adam responds suspiciously, watching Luthor's face. "Are you telling me that you have seen visions of the future?"

"Not the future. Not at all. Its things that are happening now. Other versions of us, following the same time frame. Time is always happening, Adam. There is no before, there is no after. There is now." Lex's hands begin to clench and unclench.

"But what we think, or see as a different time...is just another world. And those...can be touched. I know they can be. We, we do great things, or...terrible things. You are..." His voice trails off.

"You are the harbringer, Adam. Many places besides this one. Be wary of that."

"He's not the only one." A second voice speaks from the shadows, before one lengthens enough to allow passage.

"I'm sure that Lex Luthor has seen many things involving many people, and all that rot. Forgetting that a 'minnit, what if I knew how to show the present?"

He tips his hat, lowering it to the side. "Or better yet, how'dya like to be a part of making that future instead?"

Black Adam rises from his throne, eyes smoldering at the unexpected intrusion. He's executed grown men for lesser offences.

"Shade." From his lips, the name sounds like an accusation.

The immortal doesn't flinch at Black Adam's stony gaze. He wins a point or two for that, at least.

"Know the penalty for wasting my time, and choose your next words very carefully."

He's interested, but he won't hesitate to kill either of them should this be some perfidious scheme.

"Let me guess, life in prison?" Shade smiles a bit, before stepping forward. "Sorry, old friend. I'll outlive it just for kicks."

"As far as your company goes, I've no idea. I'm here however, for tribute. I have come to praise Caesar here, not to bury him. You know, that I represent some very, very interested friends of yours. And so you know, we support you. We believe in you."

The gifts the gods have seen fit to bestow upon Teth-Adam have endowed him with a certain type of 'sixth sense' if you will. Usually attuned to the usage of sorcery, but right now, that sense is screaming at him. He looks from the Shade to Luthor, and realizes the hair on the back of his neck has actually begun to stand on end. He's standing at a historic moment, he realizes. A crossroads. How many times has this meeting occurred, he wonders - how many worlds, in states unknown and lives unborn?

One man knows.

He turns his attention back to Luthor. Let the Shade pay his tribute, if he so desires. Adam will not ignore the prophet's words.

"Tell me what you have seen, Luthor. Tell me what vision you have beheld, that I am the harbinger of."

"There are...powerful things at play here. I see you happy. Fulfilled, with..." Lex watches his words, before looking him in the eyes.

"...Your family. And then nothing. Save you. And God help us all when that happens."

He turns his head away. "It could be nothing. It could be everything. But, I will find out soon, there has to be more."

When Luthor mentions the words your family, it takes every ounce of self-control Black Adam has not to fly from his throne and snatch him off his feet. Prophecies or no, his family is the one subject that is guaranteed to get through that famously thick skin. Thousands of years later, Adam still feels their loss deeply. His wife Shiruta, his sons Gon and Hurut...

"You will find out soon." agrees Adam. He knows better than to try to force prophecies, he's had enough dealing in his three thousand years with that type. There's a reason why seers have dwindled over the centuries, they're notoriously frail. Luthor as seer is a strange turn of events, but the gods work in mysterious ways. Black Adam is living testimony to that.

He turns his attention back to the Shade.

"And you, Shadowalker? What knowledge do you have of these omens Luthor speaks of?"

"Not a lark." Shade replies with a shrug, before giving an inquisitive sniff of a glass. "But this scotch?" He lifts, toasting the air. "That's a great faith omen for sure."

Shade swallows it down, gasping before speech. "I've learned not to pay heed to days we haven't seen yet. These days are tense. My colleagues have recently dealt with our own sort of insurgence that can't help but make us stronger in the end. All we are trying to do, is make sure our ducks stay in a row, if you must."

A Darker Justice

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