Central City was the strangest city in America, with such events as alien invasions.
Gotham was the darkest city.
But Coast City had quickly become the most violent one.
After an alien had abducted Jordan, the town went out of control. The crime rate was higher than ever, and gangs fought openly on the streets, while the police did all they could to put an end to it(without much success).
One of the cruelest men in town was John Stewart, the leader of the gang known as the Mosaics. He was an angry man, had been for the most of his life. And a nutcase as well. He seemed to enjoy violence of the life of crime more than what he gained from it.
And now it looked like he was done for.
The Warriors, the rivaling gang, was slaughtering them on open street. Stewart was the only Mosaic still alive and fighting. But not for long, it seemed. He had found cover in the grocery store that had closed down last week, after Ashtiani who ran it finally decided to move to Opal City to get away from the nightmare.
"We got him, Gloria!" One of the members of the Warriors yelled. "We got him, that son of a b%tch!"
"Don't get cocky, Gerry." Gloria reloaded her shotgun. "That guy is an animal! F¤cking crazy!"
"Dead is what he is. He is- hey, what the f¤ck is that?!"
Something small flew past Gerard's nose with high speed, and crashed through the window of the grocery store.
"Holy sh-"
Gloria never got to finish the sentence, as Stewart stepped out of the door. Not with a gun, but with a ring. A ring he used to destroy his enemies. It came so naturally to him. After all; killing was killing. Beams of yellow energy came flying out of his ring in the shape of flames, like the flames from the car crash that killed his sister. The car he was driving. The first time he was really afraid of anything. And the last time he ever feared anything. The day he became something to be feared.
Meanwhile, on Oa...
"Sir, the ring we sent out has just recently found a being with a great talent for fear."
"And?"
"It was a success. The being is a human like yourself. His name is John Stewart, and he is a natural."
"Awesome." Hal Jordan said. "That means that once we let all the rings loose that they will work like GL rings. Getting members for my Jordan Corps will not be a problem."
Jordan sat in one of the thrones that had once belonged to the now dead Guardians Of The Universe. They had been the eldest creatures in the universe. But now, they were no more. The throne-room was in ruins, like most of the buildings on Oa. Ruins, waiting to be rebuild. Rebuild so that they would belong in Jordan's personal corps.
"Shall I summon this new member of the corps?" Salaak asked. Jordan had made him responsible for guiding the new rings to find sentient beings with talent for fear. Someone had to do it, now that they had destroyed the Lantern planet Mogo.
"Na, let him be. Let him have fun before we let Kilowog have his way with him."
"In that case, should I send out the rings through the universe to gather-"
"No." Jordan interrupted Salaak. "Not yet."
"... But sir, why not?" Salaak was confused. "What are we waiting for?"
"Don't ask what, Salaak." Jordan smiled for himself. "Ask; Who?"
Tendax...
Land-rights.
That apparently justified the murder of children and innocents.
The city was still burning, and most of the houses were reduced to bricks, if not dust. The field medics did their job without being affected by the horrors, like a mother crying over her dead daughter. Unfortunately, they had all seen it before.
One of the medics did, unlike the others, not tire easily. Whenever the others asked him if he was okay and if he needed to rest, he simply replied that he would have plenty of time for rest when he was dead.
He was a remarkable being, and somewhat a legend on Tendax. Not only were he very resourceful, but he was also physically gifted. Once, he was ambushed by FOUR terrorists, yet he subdued them despite the fact that he was unarmed, while they clearly weren't.
"M-mmm-m..." A young man were being threaded to by the medic. "M-may the gods... bless you..."
"No, my friend." The medic picked him up. He held him in his arms, like he was light as a feather. "May the gods forgive me."
.................................
The medic, finally taking a well-deserved break, went back to his camp tent, only to meet an unexpected visitor.
"Hello, Thaal Sinestro."
In fact, VERY unexpected.
"A Guardian? Here?"
"Not a Guardian Thaal Sinesto, but THE Guardian." She turned her head, revealing a huge scar.
Sinestro was shocked. He always believed that the mighty and immortal Guardians could get harmed, but this was... shocking could be a word for it.
"... What is going on? And where is this sector's Green Lantern? The war is-"
"She is dead." The Guardian interrupted him. "Most of the Lanterns are. And I am the only Guardian still alive."
"How did.. What is... Why..."
"It's Jordan. He has somehow returned from Qward, and with a new kind of ring. Not only is it yellow, the weakness of the Green Lantern ring, but it's also... a different type of power. The power of fear." the Guardian sighed. "Not only has Jordan killed most of the Corps, he even made some of them join him. He has taken over Oa, Sinestro. He is making the preparations for his own corps. Only I and a few of the Lanterns managed to get away with our lives."
Sinestro just stood there. He was... Well, overwhelmed was one word for it. "... I-"
"He is a dangerous creature, Sinestro." The Guardian went on, apparently not believing that Sinesto didn't need time to process all of the information that he just got thrown in his face. "He has a willpower like no other species the corps has ever seen. He has to be stopped." Only now, Sinestro noticed that the scared Guardian held a ring in her hand. "You must join the Corps once again, Thaal Sinestro. I need the greatest Green Lantern back."
Sinestro looked at the power ring.
After four minutes, where none of them said anything, he finally said:
"No."
"... No?"
"There haven't passed a day where I haven't missed that ring. The power that it gave me, and how that power could be used. I have discovered all of the secrets of the power ring. There is NOTHING that I can't do with it. I can split an atom if I wished to. With that ring, I would be able to do everything. Like bringing peace to this planet. And once the war was over and they needed someone to guide them and protect them, I would be more than happy to assist. And I would eventually come to the conclusion that they needed my leadership. And if they told me that they did not wish to have me as leader, then I would force them to, for their own good." Sinestro paused himself, mopping his brow. "If I placed it back on my finger, I would never stop using it. You believe Jordan to be a monster?" He looked the Guardian straight into her eyes. "You will see a monster, once I become a Green Lantern again."
Silence.
"... I see..." The Guardian finally said. "What if I told you that I had new weapon?"
"Power is power. And I am easily corrupted."
"But this weapon i different. It won't work I you becomes corrupted. And after all your time on Tendax, I believe that you more than anyone else can master it's power?"
"And what is that suppose to mean?"
"How long have you been here on this planet?"
"... Six months."
"And how long has the war been going on??"
"Twelve years."
"And you go on? You still work yourself to death on a planet that apparently are doomed? Most of the Lanterns who were sent here asked to be transferred to another sector, believing that they could be of greater use somewhere else."
"Oh, I have many times considered trying to leave this planet one way or another, believe me, Guardian."
"You can call me Scar, Sinestro." She said. "But answer my question, Sinestro; Why are you still here? Why wast time on a planet without hope for a brighter future?"
"... I'm not sure you are going to like the answer... Scar. It's very... naive."
"Try me."
"... Because... tomorrow is full of possibilities. And we will always have tomorrow."
Scar smiled. "In that case, I think you are perfect as the first man to ever use the weapon."
"Wait!" Sinestro raised a hand. "What about my pl- I mean, what about Tandex? I can't just leave. There is work to be done, I-"
"I promise you, Thaal Sinestro, that if we stop Jordan and his new corps, that the Green Lantern Corps main priority will be to put an end to this war."
"... Fine. I will do it."
The next day...
"You call that frighting, Poozer?!" Kilowog spat at the young man who, not long ago, were a Green Lantern in training. But after the attack of Jordan, he decided to accept the new ring. And now, he was about to be trained in how to use it, practicing on one of the felons from the sciencells. The prisoner was known as Bolphunga The Unrelenting. But right now, he wimped, lying on the ground in front of the rookie and the drill sergeant.
Oa had once been full of life. But the number of Lanterns had been reduced drastically after Jordan had returned. All of remaining Lanterns, those who had decided to join the new Jordan Corps, and therefor also assisted in killing their colleagues, were all now all now gathered in the central meeting hall, the least thrashed part of Oa. Everyone were busy, either with rebuilding the hall, or practicing their new yellow rings.
"Ahem!"
Everyone pointed their rings at the intruder who somehow had entered the planet Oa unseen, but they hesitated to attack, once they realized who it was.
All of a sudden, the men and women who were preparing to create a new and greater police force than the Green Lantern ever were. All of a sudden, they didn't feel so great and powerful. In fact, they felt like kids who had been caught by their dad, while trying to steal from mom's wallet.
"The Jordan Corps? Hh!" Sinestro floated in the air, looking down at his former colleagues. "It has to be the most ridicules thing I have ever heard. And lower that ring, Tomar-Re, or I WILL remind you who taught you to use it properly!" Without thinking, Tomar-Re did so. And he was even THIS close at replying; Yes sir.
"Now, then..." Sinestro said calmly. "This is what's going to happen; Those of you with enough sense in you heads are going to leave this planet and fly to the moon of Tendax where the last Guardian will be waiting for you, and then, maybe, and JUST maybe... you will be forgiven and even welcomed back to the TRUE Lantern Corps."
Silence.
Sinestro raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
Five of the 51 lanterns turned their rings on, and left Oa.
"Five? Is that it? Hh!" The Lanterns looked like the were about to attack. "I actually expected YOU to know better, Kilowog."
"Ain't afraid of you!" Kilowog yelled, while he was creating a yellow canon. "But you will be! Of us!"
"So you say." Sinestro's ring started to glow brighter. "Let's get on with it, shall we?"
Next time: Sinestro VS Jordan.
Log in to comment