The arrival of Eron and Diana in New York was not silent. The sky of the metropolis, which did not yet know the horror of European bombs, was torn by a bluish flash as the two gods landed atop a skyscraper under construction. The city glowed with electric light, but nothing compared to the aura Diana now exhaled.
They walked down Fifth Avenue, ignoring the necks of every man and woman who turned to stare at Diana's supernatural beauty. Aphrodite's power within her acted like a magnet, a gravity that stole the breath of any mortal.
— This place still has hope — Eron commented, observing the opulence of the buildings. — It is almost an insult.
Before Diana could respond, an explosion of emerald energy lit up the night sky, followed by a black and putrid smoke that seemed to suck the surrounding light. Two figures crossed the air at high speed, colliding against the facade of a luxury hotel.
A man wearing a black and green suit, sustained by a ring that shone with an indomitable will, was trying to contain a cadaverous creature. The Green Lantern was wounded, his energy shield cracking under the blows of a member of the Black Lantern Corps. The villain was an abomination, a reanimated corpse that exhaled the smell of death that Eron knew so well.
The Black Lantern, about to deliver a fatal blow to the fallen hero, stopped abruptly. He felt a vibration in the air. It was not the smell of common life, but something eternal. He turned his rotting face toward the sidewalk and saw Diana.
Even for a being that served death, Diana's beauty was an anomaly. Aphrodite's power within her shone with such intensity that the villain felt a hunger that went beyond the void of darkness. He did not just want the Green Lantern's heart; he wanted to possess that divine perfection.
— Life... but not mortal — hissed the Black Lantern, his voice coming out as a whisper from a grave. — You... will be the trophy of my Corps.
Ignoring the Green Lantern, the villain fired a beam of black energy toward Diana, advancing with extended claws. He did not want to kill her; he wanted to kidnap the source of that pink and pearly light to take it to the depths of the forbidden sector.
Eron, who watched everything with deep boredom, stepped forward. The air around him began to crackle with a dangerous voltage. The Green Lantern, trying to rise from the rubble, shouted a warning:
— Get out of here! That thing feeds on emotion! You don't have a chance!
Eron let out a short laugh and looked at the Green Lantern with almost divine contempt.
— Emotion? — Eron reached out his hand, and the metal of the cars parked around began to levitate and twist. — I am the God of War, little lantern. I do not feel emotion. I am the event that creates them.
The Black Lantern was inches from touching Diana's face when Eron clenched his fist. The magnetic field around the villain became an absolute press, crushing the black armor and reanimated bones in an instant.