Chapter 3
June, 2002
Arthur Harrow was losing faith. Not just that, he was losing his religion. For years he was a devout Catholic, but, over time and unanswered prayers, he started doubting God was even real. He had fought in the Gulf War only for the United States to be at war with the same countries ten years later. He found himself in the deserts of Luxor, Egypt. He walked for miles until he stumbled upon Khonshu’s temple. He sighed heavily and sat on the steps.
“You seem troubled.”
Arthur whipped around to find the source of the voice. “Who said that?”
“Up here.” Khonshu said. Arthur looked up at the bird statue. “I am the God Khonshu in search of a warrior to enact my vengeance on those who really deserve it.”
Arthur scoffed and shook his head. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but wars do not make one great. If anything, it makes them worse.”
“True. But even in your case, you have a strong moral conscience. You are the perfect candidate to serve me.” Khonshu replied. “Do you swear to protect the travelers of the night and punish those who would do them harm?”
Arthur pondered Khonshu’s offer. It would be kind of nice to serve an actual god for something unlike the Christian god who has failed him. He smiled and nodded. “Sure. Why not?”
“Well, then… rise as my fist of vengeance, as my Moon Knight.” Khonshu said.
“Night?” Arthur asked in confusion.
Khonshu sighed wearily. “Knight as is knight in shining armor.”
“Oh. That makes sense.” Arthur nodded.
XXX
At first, Arthur started to enjoy dealing out pain in Khonshu’s behalf. His antics as Moon Knight did not go unnoticed, especially by Nick Fury. Fury tracked him down in St. Louis ten years after Arthur became Moon Knight.
“I’d like to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.” Fury said. “It’s a team of superheroes. Think of what we could accomplish together.”
Arthur just smiled, though Fury couldn’t tell. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m already serving one master and that’s enough for me.”
“All right. Well, if you change your mind, we’re based in New York City.” Fury replied.
“Thank you. And I won’t change my mind.” Arthur said. ‘Trust me, you do not want me on your team.’
XXX
After the Battle of New York, Arthur couldn’t help but wonder what the outcome would be if he had helped. He definitely would have stopped Loki before he could deal more damage.
Meanwhile, Khonshu was getting more and more aggressive with his “vengeance”. He was starting to belittle and gaslight Arthur to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore. He knew the only way to really get rid of Khonshu was to take it a step further and just kill anybody. So, he hid in an alleyway and grabbed the first person he saw and snapped their neck, killing them.
“Harrow, what the hell was that?!” Khonshu exclaimed in shock. “Why would you do that? He was a good person!”
“Well, maybe at that moment. But who knows? He could have turned out to be a terrorist.” Harrow shrugged nonchalantly.
Khonshu sputtered in surprise and anger. “You… you are my avatar. We don’t kill unless they’ve already done harm! Not before!”
“Well, maybe I’m tired of dealing out pain in your behalf.” Arthur said, folding his arms.
“We had a deal. A deal!” Khonshu slammed his staff on the ground causing a huge wind.
“Well, I’m breaking that deal.” Arthur said firmly.
“So be it, sinner.” Khonshu said. He tore himself away from Harrow, knocking him unconscious.
XXX
Arthur woke up to bright sunlight and someone taking his arm. He opened his eyes and jumped slightly.
“Easy there. Looks like you had quite a night.” Arthur stared up at a man with grey hair and icy blue eyes. “Can you stand?”
Arthur nodded and stood up. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” The man replied. “I’m Tom Siso. What’s yours?”
“Arthur Harrow.” Arthur replied.
“Have you ever heard of Ammit, the Egyptian goddess?” Tom asked.
“Oh, yeah. She grew weary of waiting for sinners to commit their crimes before punishing them and devours their souls.” Arthur said. “Apparently she has been imprisoned somewhere for the last two thousand or so years.”
“Indeed. Are you aware she has a cult?” Tom asked.
“Why, no, actually, I didn’t.” Arthur shook his head. “Are you…part of it, or…?”
“Indeed I am.” Tom showed him his crocodile head cane. “This cane was Ammit’s gift to her first Avatar- you know what that is?”
“Yeah. I was actually Khonshu’s avatar for twelve years. He just left me last night.” Arthur explained.
“Should I offer condolences or congratulations?” Tom asked, raising an eyebrow.
Arthur chuckled. “Congratulations, I guess.”
Tom nodded and continued. “This cane achieves its’ power by reading peoples’ souls. They show what they’ve done and what they will do. Would you like me to demonstrate?”
Arthur nodded, curious now. Tom held out Arthur’s arms and balanced the cane in between. The cane rocked back and forth for a moment and stopped.
Tom smiled. “This is the face of a good man.”
Arthur scoffed in disbelief. “I just killed an innocent man. I am far from good.”
“I recognize him.” Tom glanced at the corpse. “I read his scales yesterday, and he ran away before I could punish him. He was going to become a domestic abuser. So, thank you for the assist.”
Arthur was confused. “But Khonshu told me he was a good man.”
“Because he hadn’t abused anyone yet.” Tom shrugged. “So how could he know?”
“Good point.” Arthur said.
“Come with me. My neighborhood is just around the corner.”
Arthur followed Tom to his cult dwelling. It was a nice, friendly neighborhood with happy and friendly people. The main building had a small movie theater where nature videos played and a game room and a cafeteria. A slow smile spread across Arthur’s face. He has found his destiny.