'Little thing… little thing, you are in me, and I have a great need…'
…
'In this strange place of light and order and names, I have been named evil. Yet naming is not enough. I must know my nature, I must know my purpose.'
…
'Tell me, little thing, what is evil?'
The Great Darkness asked Dr Fate.
"Evil? Evil is ignorance that would try to drag us back as we strive toward the immortal light. It is a quagmire that traps and blinds, preventing growth and understanding. Evil is wretched, clinging to us like unwanted soil, and must be recognised and cast aside if we are to move forward."
As a Lord of Order in the Universe, such an answer was natural for Dr Fate. He was, of course, biased and saw everything that wasn't ordered as evil. He didn't understand what he was talking to and how to talk to it. He was just as flawed as those he deemed evil.
'Am I so low, then. And is he you serve so high that there can be no possibility of respect between us?'
'Little thing, you have taught me contempt. It is not the answer that was required.'
Then, the Great Darkness ejected Dr Fate just as it had done with Etrigan previously.
Outside, Deadman, also called Boston Brand, a member of the heroes, carried Dr Fate away. That left two people there, the Phantom Stranger and Swamp Thing.
"Hey Stranger! Fate's just about alive, but he's in shock. What are we going to do to stop that thing?" Deadman asked the Phantom Stranger.
"What we can, Boston Brand. What we can."
The Great Darkness grew more and more, rising into the sky. What the heroes didn't understand was that their encounters and their words served only to strengthen the Great Darkness and point its aggression towards Heaven, towards the Presence, towards creation itself.
After an unknown amount of time, the Spectre arrived.
The Spectre was the divine Spirit of Vengeance, a powerful agent of the Presence, bound to a human host to curb his power and offer guidance. And now, it was here, willing to do battle with this strange darkness that stood opposite to anything the Spectre stood for as the agent of the Presence.
So it did, what it knew how to do.
It attacked the Great Darkness.
But before he or anyone else knew it, the Spectre disappeared and was sucked in, just like those that came before it. The sheer power of the Great Darkness was overwhelming and incalculable. As he floated in endless darkness, the same voice of the Great Darkness could be heard, but this time more pronounced and stronger than before.
'Little thing… my hunger for understanding grows larger as my patience dwindles. Shall my question be answered, or shall I snuff out the light, and be done with the anguish its presence causes me?'
"NO! I forbid you, by the voice that speaks in all things…!" the Spectre shouted.
'It does not speak in me. In me, there is only the hateful nagging of an insoluble query. Tell me, little thing: What is evil for?'
"Evil exists only to be avenged, so that others may see what ruin comes of opposing that great voice, and cleave more wholly to its will, fearing its retribution!"
'And what of the tortured aeons I endured, unable to broach this maddening brilliance and quiet the pain it woke in me? Do they not demand retribution?'
'Little thing, you have taught me only vengeance… be gone, that I might savour it in solitude.'
The Great Darkness grew stronger still, and its anger was directed towards creation. Because every time something was created, every time light was born inside the darkness, the Great Darkness felt pain and suffered for it. And from what it had been taught, it was just about ready to snuff out all of the light and creation to return to the way things were before.
That was when an unconscious Mark arrived, having floated through the endless darkness and somehow arriving in that moment, at that time, before the Great Darkness.
'…'
Even the Great Darkness was confused about who or what this was. Nevertheless, as Mark entered the consciousness the Great Darkness currently possessed, it sent an existential shock through him, waking him right away.
"URGHH… balls…"
'Little thing, you came to me by chance but without wrath. In this extraordinary place, you are extraordinary. What have you to offer me?' the Great Darkness asked.
"Huh?! What the fuck is going on? Where am I? And who are you?"
'…'
'I have been named wretched evil by those who came before you. And yet, my hunger for understanding has only grown larger.'
"Named? Who named you 'wretched evil'? What a shitty name is that?"
'… Those who came before you have called me that. For I seek to understand myself and the painful situation I find myself in.'
"Ok, I'm totally lost. Tell me what happened."
'…Very well.'
…
"And you allowed them to call you wretched evil? Why?"
'Why?'
"Why would you care for the opinions of those weaker than you? You won't get an objective answer if you ask them. They call you evil because that's what they perceive you as. The deer that is chased and then killed by the tiger will also call the predator evil. But that's not how it works," Mark said, cracking his neck as he adjusted to the weight of the void.
For some reason, he had somewhat recovered.
He looked around at the infinite blackness, not with the terror or fear of Dr Fate or the righteous fury of the Spectre, but with the interested eyes of someone who was glad that he saw something new and interesting.
"The tiger isn't evil. It's just hungry. And the deer isn't good because it is weak; it's just lunch to the tiger. You don't call the deer weak because it eats grass, do you? That's stupid. You're asking for a moral definition from people who use 'light' as a security blanket."
The Great Darkness rippled, its vast consciousness leaning in.
'They spoke of a Divine Will. They spoke of retribution and filth. They told me I am the quagmire that traps the soul.'
"Yeah, well, they would," Mark snorted, floating cross-legged in the abyss. "Look, I'm a Viltrumite, or a half-breed at least. It doesn't matter. From what I gathered, my species spent millennia conquering the stars because they thought strength was the only 'name' that mattered. They called it 'order.' The people they slaughtered? They called them 'evil.' Neither of the Viltrumites nor the others was right if you look at it from your perspective. They were just two different forces occupying the same space, and one of us had bigger teeth."
'Then what is my nature?' the Darkness pulsed. 'The light causes me agony. It is a needle in my eye that was never there before. If I am not 'Evil,' then am I merely a victim of creation's intrusion?'
"You're a reaction," Mark replied simply. "But listen, you're asking what you should do, if you should just snuff it all out to stop the stinging. I get it. Trust me, I get it.
I fought my own father, you know? The man who was seen as the biggest hero on Earth. Until he told me that he saw my mother as a pet and was only there to see if I got powers to conquer the planet... We tore into each other until we both nearly died. Good times. He wanted me to help him take over my planet. He said it was the right thing to do because of our lifespan stretching over thousands of years, while humans only live for about a century. And from his perspective, someone who had lived so long and had seen so many people die, you could say it was logical. However, I said no."
'Why? If you possess the strength to conquer, why refrain?'
"Because I'm not a beast," Mark said. "I have the urge, believe me. Every day, I feel that wanderlust, that itch in my blood to just fly through a sun, to grab the throat of a powerful warrior, to take whatever I want because nobody can stop me. I could turn Earth into a graveyard in a weekend, or enslave them all. But I don't. Not because some 'immortal light' told me not to, but because I have standards. If I just do things because I can, I'm just a force of nature. A hurricane, no personality, no spice. And I will not be controlled by my urges or desires. If I live so long, I'll surely find others to fight and other interesting things… Like you."
The Great Darkness went silent, the absolute quiet of a dead universe.
'The light hurts me. Why should I endure it?'
"Because anything worth fighting for usually hurts," Mark said. "Growth isn't that 'order' crap the magician was spouting. Growth is a glorious struggle. If you snuff out the light, you go back to being nothing. Just a big, empty nothing with no one in it. Is that what you want? To be bored for eternity just so your eyes stop stinging?"
'I seek a purpose. Am I to be the adversary?'
Mark shrugged, a small figure against the cosmic tide.
"That's the catch, Big Guy. Nobody can give you that. Not the Presence, not those capes you kicked out, and definitely not me. We're so far below you that we're inconsequential and couldn't hope to understand your struggles and motivations. You're the only thing in this existence and non-existence big enough to decide what you are and who you want to be.
You want to be the 'Evil' they named you? Fine, go destroy the light and burn it all down. But you'll be proving them right. You'll be the ignorant predator they think you are. Smile and laugh in their faces at their narrowmindedness and foolishness, and then seek other things to challenge yourself."
Mark looked into the depths of the void, his expression grinning widely as he spread his hands.
"Or, you can realise that just because you have the power to end creation doesn't mean you should. That's called restraint. That's what separates a barbarian from a King. You can choose to exist alongside the light. It'll hurt. It'll probably always hurt. But at least you'll know you're the one choosing to feel it.
You have what every single thing wishes it had: Freedom. Freedom to choose and do whatever you want. That's the most valuable good there is; nothing comes close."
The Darkness recoiled slightly in contemplation.
'I have been taught contempt... I have been taught vengeance... but you... You speak of a burden, choice… and freedom.'
"Now, are you gonna keep acting like a hurt brat with a magnifying glass focusing on vermin, or are you gonna decide who you actually are? And where the fuck are we?"
'You are inside me. And I am here.'
"Very poetic. And how do I get back?" Mark asked.
'Back where?'
"Where I came from. Didn't you see which direction I came from? That guy who trapped me said something about the Shadowverse. And then there were some monsters, and then I somehow ended up here."
'Little thing… what is your name?'
"Hm? You can call me Mark. What about you? I can't keep calling you Evil, can I?"
'Mark… I have no name. If I am not Evil, then who am I?'
"Then I'll just call you… Bob—… No, that's just not good. How about Great Darkness? Sounds majestic."
'… Great Darkness. Peculiar. I agree.'
"Good. Well, I should find a way back somehow. You could come with me, though. It might give you another perspective. We'll have a drink, play some wagers… have a fight… You know, stuff. Or you could show me around here. I always wanted to see new universes."
'I sense a great and final end approaching. I should be alone. I will show you the way back, and you can leave freely, as you came.'
"Alright. Then maybe another time."
'Another time.'