DCU Green Lantern Corps #63 Paragons of Light

Light.

 

 

Blinding, unwavering light bursted into the sky. Like a beacon in the night, a lighthouse guiding those through the fog. It was warm, calm, welcoming.

 

 

Kyle's eyes felt almost forced open, the sight in front of him causing his jaw to slack. The webs surrounding him were gone, puddles of the goo splattered on the floor. Around him was that same light that shot through the sky, almost aura like.

 

 

Across from him stood the creature, it's head tilting to the side. Kyle eyed the monster, then his own hands. His eyes widened once more as he took in the shape of his body. All the lacerations he'd received from the webbing were gone, no scarring or marks as if they never happened at all.

 

 

"What is going on?" he asked, looking up at the creature. "Why am I asking you?!"

 

 

His body turned, his eyes locking onto the black webs. Ideas barreled through his mind, all leading to one thing.

 

 

Charge through.

 

 

-^- Lantern Lair, Coast City: 20 minutes ago -^-

 

 

All three stared in awe at the boy as he reached for the bag of chips on the left of his desk.

 

 

"Uh… that's… um," said Simon at a loss for words. "He looks like he could be my kid."

 

 

"He's in Coast City?" asked Jessica. "Isn't it kinda odd all of us are from Coast City?"

 

 

"Not the time," Hal commanded with haste in his voice. "We need to get to him, now."

 

 

Hal brought himself to a stand, turning his head to Simon. "Secure the projector then meet up with John and Guy," he said, turning to the exit. "I need to get to the kid as soon as possible."

 

 

Simon nodded, watching as Hal exited the building. Once alone, he turned to Jessica with a smile on his face. "So, how long do you think it'll take before the new guy gets a ring?"

 

 

"Simon…" she grumbled.

 

 

Simon held back a small chuckle before he gazed down at the projector. "Alright so… how do we turn this off?"

 

 

"Uh…"

 

 

Both lanterns looked at each other, then at the projector, then back to each other. "Hal is the only person in the world who'd give instructions but not give us the instructions," Simon sighed, looking back down to the projector.

 

 

"We could just contact him…" she said, tapping her ring.

 

 

"It's fine," Simon replied, waving his hand at her. "There's a big button with a green power symbol here."

 

 

"Wait Simon, maybe we should-"

 

 

The projector's lights flashed off as Simon's finger pressed the button, the whir of the machine silencing. Simon smirked, ready to speak before the machine once again lit up, a mix of green and white light.

 

 

"Uh oh."

 

 

The projector's shell began to protrude, components from inside following suit. Simon and Jessica took a step back as it began to transform from the machine to a humanoid. The rusted shell of the projector had flipped, revealing a sleek ice white metal. Black rubbery fabric went down the machine's thighs and biceps, the effect of white plated armor now being achieved. It's head was shielded by a white helmet with an exposed face made purely of green energy.

 

 

"Okay, that's not what I meant to do," Simon said, looking at Jessica with his hands raised.

 

 

"What is it's face saying?" she spoke, ignoring the man. "I can't make out the letters."

 

 

"What, do you need glasses?" he asked, smiling at her. "It says Aya."

 

 

Jessica took a step closer, squinting at the small text. "That says A.I, Simon…"

 

 

"O-oh… maybe I need the glasses," he said, rubbing the back of his head embarrassed.

 

 

"So… what is it?"

 

 

"I am a super intelligent A.I program created by Arin Sur, former wife of Thaal Sinestro and sister of Abin Sur, two former high level Green Lantern Corps members who each discovered emotional entities."

 

 

Simon and Jessica stared at the robot as it spoke, eyes wide in disbelief.

 

 

"My function is to track the emotional spectrum a lifeform is connected to," it said, tilting its head to the side. "Why have I been awakened?"

 

 

"Uh… Blackest Night is here." Simon said, his statement sounding more like a question he was asking himself.

 

 

"Understood. I see my database has already recorded the one connected to life, will we be going to assist him?"

 

 

Simon nodded his head, turning to Jessica. "Uh, so do we tell Hal Aya woke up?"

 

 

"Aya?"

 

 

-^-

 

 

Kyle felt his heart racing, his breathing speeding up as he eyed down the webs blocking his exit. He had two options. Either fight the monster, which was immediate death, or to try and use the light again and break the webs.

 

 

"I don't know how you broke them," the monster said, it's footsteps drawing ever closer, "but it's time you die."

 

 

Kyle's breath accelerated even faster, sweat rolling down his face. His shaky hand lifted into the air, hovering slightly in front of the webbing. With a push of his hand, he felt excruciating pain, worse than when he'd fallen in the webbing earlier. His hand recoiled back, now bearing deep wounds smeared in scarlet.

 

 

"You attempted to get through them?" the creature asked once more, close enough now for Kyle to feel it's breathing on his shoulder. "Resilience is strong in you."

 

 

Kyle's eyes fell closed, his shoulders dropping from the tensed height they were at. The nervousness that filled his entire being disappeared once more, the serenity he'd felt before his near-death experience returning.

 

 

Like he wasn't in control at all.

 

 

His eyelids opened, bright white lights shining out of them. His whole body turned, the white radiating around him in a heavenly aura.

 

 

"The One's Blessing: Weaved Sanctuary."

 

 

Webbing launched from his body, it's color a blinding white rather than the pitch black of his adversary. The threads attached to the walls and ground, much like the ones the creature used, yet these radiated something different. They felt strong, serene, and full of life.

 

 

They felt good.

 

 

The threads soon made contact with the zombie, one catching it by the leg. The limb was instantaneously severed, causing the creature to tumble over. Another thread came whipping down to the fallen zombie, the thread removing it's left arm.

 

 

'What's going on?' Kyle echoed in his mind, no words turkey coming out of his mouth.

 

 

Another web came crashing down, slicing it's torso in half.

 

 

One final web went down at an angle, removing it's right hand and head simultaneously.

 

 

At an instant a loud screech echoes through the alleyway. The ring on it's right hand slowly melted into a black ooze, it's body slowly beginning to decay into dust.

 

 

Kyle felt the serene white energy dissipate from his body, the exhaustion causing him to slide down the building wall. A sharp pain shot up his arm as he felt his full consciousness return. Pulling up his sleeve, his eyes widened. A large scar rode his forearm, a faint white glow radiating from the skin.

 

 

"What the hell is even going on anymore?" he asked, leaning his head against the wall. His eyes trailed. Down to the decaying corpse, catching a glimpse of it's eyes returning to a brown before it fully dusted.

 

 

"Kyle Rayner?"

 

 

His gaze moved from the bow decayed body to the sky, eyes widening at the sight.

 

 

"Green L-Lantern?"

 

 

-^-

 

 

John opened his eyes, the throbbing of his head causing him to wince. He held himself still for a moment before shooting up to a stand. "Jade? Obsidian? Guy?" he frantically asked before his eyes set on the sight in front of him. In the midst of being hugged by his children was Alan.

 

 

Alan was there. Not the zombiafied puppet of Black Hand, but Alan. He wore his original uniform, bar the mask. His hair flowed and skin, though more wrinkled than before, was full of color.

 

 

He was alive.

 

 

"A… Alan?" he asked hesitantly, the two hugging the man breaking away. "I… is that you?"

 

 

Alan stepped forward, his cloak flowing with the wind. "Hey John," he greeted, a smile on his face.

 

 

John took cautious steps forward before wrapping his arms around him. "Y-you're okay. You're alive…" he whispered, a few tears leaking from his eyes.

 

 

Alan patted the man on the back. "Yeah, seems I am," he said, chuckling slightly at the younger man. "But now isn't the time for reunions. I've been filled in on everything."

 

 

"You have? John asked, breaking away from the hug. "How?"

 

 

"He is the Paragon of Willpower."

 

 

Everyone on the rooftop turned to the new voice that had appeared. Stood on edge of the roof was a man dressed in dark blue, a large black collared cloak blowing in the wind. On his head sat a black fedora that covered his eyes.

 

 

"Who are you?!" Guy asked, raising his ring into the air aimed at the man.

 

 

"Guy, stand down," Alan said, waving his gauntlet welding hand at the ginger. "This is an ally."

 

 

The man continued to stay on the edge of the rooftop, though raising his head to view the group, revealing his piercing white eyes.

 

 

"My name is the Phantom Stranger," he said, introducing himself with a tip of his hat, "and like Ion has said, I am not your enemy."

 

 

"Ion?" Jade asked, looking to her father.

 

 

"I take it that the two Lanterns here know of emotional entities, yes?" he asked, earning a nod from Guy and John each. "Good. As you know, each emotion in the spectrum has an entity. In the hidden prophecy, it is stated that all entities must form together to create The One, the entity of Life.

 

 

"I was asked by… an old friend to contact the entities and inform them of what is occurring. Ion was the first to respond, linking itself with Alan Scott of earth, breaking death's hold on him. The other entities are not so pleased with being forced to bond and have yet to leave their power batteries."

 

 

"Oh god, don't tell me…" Guy groaned.

 

 

"You must travel to each planet and unleash the other entities," the man explained, earning a loud groan from Guy. "Only then will you be able to summon The One. Only then will you be able to end Nekron."

 

 

"How do we unleash them?" John asked, stepping forward. "You said it yourself, they're unwilling to leave their batteries."

 

 

"That is not my place, John Stewart," he said, a blue mist rising from beneath him. "But know this, I bear you with good fortune. You shall need it." The smoke encompassed his body before disappearing, his body along with it.

 

 

"Well that's just great, we get to go on a road trip," Guy grumbled, crossing his arms. "Why can't it for once just be the giant space shit coming to us?"

 

 

"I doubt you want a repeat of April," John said with a small smirk before his ring gave a small beep. "John, Guy, get downtown, now."

 

 

-^-

 

 

Hal was knelt down next to the boy, examining his right arm. The glowing scar. He'd seen the prophecy and knew what this meant.

 

 

The One's power was used without a conduit.

 

 

Like each light of the emotional spectrum, the power ring serves as a conduit for the power. It can only handle so much before it needs a recharge, and too much power exerted at once can cause it to break. Organisms, even those with the strongest of a given emotion, can't manifest enough of the emotion to create constructs without a power ring. When something can however, the body simply can't handle it.

 

 

"I… I don't understand it at all… " Kyle said, his voice low and confused.

 

 

Hal expected as much. To explain a prophecy like Blackest Night to a boy his age? To tell him he was the Paragon of Life itself and the chosen one to save the universe?

 

 

He'd be scared too.

 

 

"Ha- I mean, Green Lantern…" a voice called out. Simon's voice. He turned to see both Simon and Jessica flying down to the ground, though they weren't alone.

 

 

Behind them was an android, it's color a sleek ice white. It had some type of rubber-like material under the armor as well as a green led faceplate.

 

 

"What…?"

 

 

"This is… Aya…" Simon stated, rubbing the back of his head. "The um… the projector…"

 

 

"Arin's creation…" Hal mumbled, staring at android before he shook his head. "That's not important right now. He is."

 

 

"He's The One?" another voice asked. Hal turned to see John and Guy. Accompanying them were Jade, Todd, and…

 

 

"Alan?"

 

 

"I think it's time we compare notes," Guy said, his right hand pointing behind him at Alan.

 

 

-^- Space Sector 666, Keshtar Belt -^-

 

 

"What happened to my puppet!?" Hand asked, his blood boiling and fists clenched. His head twisted, eyes locking onto Corrigan. "This… was your doing…"

 

 

"I have not left since you enacted your plan, poser," Corrigan responded, his eyes shifting from Hand back to the stars. "I simply asked a favor of an old friend."

 

 

Hand lifted his arm into the air, ring aimed at the spirit.

 

 

"You can not hurt the Spectre."

 

 

Hand's arm lowered back down to his side, eyes closing. "That means the emotional entities…"

 

 

"They have been notified of Blackest Night. The Lanterns of Earth shall be attempting to tame them as we speak."

 

 

"Well then," Hand responded, raising his arm into the air, "we can fix that…"

 

 

"By my black hand… the dead… shall…

 

 

"Rise!!!"

 

 

In front of him, black goo began amassing, Hand's lips curving up into a wicked smile.

 

 

The goo slowly formed bodies, vascular systems and skeletons, muscles and pale grey skin. Black armored clothing followed by black rings.

 

 

"Hand…" Spectre grimaced, his eyes staring at the creations in front of Hand.

 

 

"Carter Hall, Kendra Saunders, Dan Garrett, Albert Pratt, Terry Sloane, Abigail Hunkel, Dinah Drake, and Ted Knight… the Spectre's former friends..."

 

 

Corrigan's head lowered. Hand was not finished, his smile growing ever wider.

 

 

"Prince Nabu of Egypt. J'ozeff M'eech, The Composite Superman. Atlan, the first king of Atlantis. Edward Claris, the Rival. Jesse Hyde, The Manta. Punch and his WMD, Tensil Chem."

 

 

Starr had now locked up from his sand filled hourglass, marvelling at the mass of undead in front of them.

 

 

"Finally… Katma Tui Stewart… and Abin Sur…"

 

 

"You've… y-you can't possibly co-control them all at o-o-once…" Starr said, his voice shaky and low.

 

 

"You underestimate the power of Black Hand."

 

 

-^- Earth, Coast City -^-

 

 

"So we're up against death itself and our only way to win is gathering the entities for him?" Guy asked, pointing to Kyle. "That's a lot of work, how much time do we have?"

 

 

"Ion estimates a day, at the maximum," Alan confirmed. "That doesn't mean Nekron can't emerge earlier though."

 

 

Hal nodded his head, overlooking the group. "We're going to need to split into pairs," he said, creating a construct of each lantern emblem, crossing out Willpower. "We already have Ion, which leaves The Butcher, The Predator, Ophidian, Adara, Proselyte, and Parallax.

 

 

"Each team will go for one of the emotions," he explained, his construct forming stick figures heading to each emblem. "When a team secures the entity, they head to the next one."

 

 

"The Death Power Battery is located in the dead zone, or Sector 666," John added, looking to the group. "We reconvine there once we collect the entities."

 

 

"Jade and myself…" Todd said, gaining the attention of everyone. "We both are… low on energy after the fight."

 

 

Alan winced, clenching his fist. "Damn…"

 

 

"No, it's okay, dad," Jade reassured, smiling at her father. "Someone is gonna need to stay here incase any more of them show up anyways, right?"

 

 

The man was silent for a moment before nodding his head. "Yes… yes you're right."

 

 

"Alright, if that's settled… who is going for what?" Jessica asked, causing the group to fall silent once more.

 

 

"I'll take rage," Guy finally said, breaking the silence. "I've been meaning to punch Atrocitus in his dumb red jaw."

 

 

"Allow me to accompany you, Guy Gardner," the white android spoke. "I believe I will be of most assistance with the Red Lantern Corps."

 

 

"Guy?" Hal asked, looking at him.

 

 

"Yeah," Guy agreed with a not. "Guess an android won't be able to piss 'em off nearly as much as one of you idiots."

 

 

"Simon, you and Jess should go for Hope," Hal suggested, turning towards them. "Saint Walker should be helpful, which means you can cover a second quickly."

 

 

"Right." "You got it."

 

 

"I'll get Greed," John said, causing Hal's eyes to fixate on him.

 

 

"John… I don't think th-"

 

 

"No," he said, interrupting Hal. "I'm going for it, we need to get it locked down as quickly as possible, before Nekron strikes some kind of deal with it."

 

 

"I'll go with him, Hal," Alan offered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be in and out."

 

 

"Guess that leaves me with the kid," Hal said, looking to Kyle. "I'll… I'll handle…

 

 

"Love."

 

 

The group was once again silent, Kyle looking between everyone with confusion. "What's wrong with Love?" he asked, scratching his head. "It sounds more tame than a lot of these."

 

 

"I'll.. I'll explain on the way," Hal said, earning a nod from Kyle. "Alright… this… this is the most important mission we've ever had…

 

 

"So let's show that son of a bitch what a Green Lantern is."

Done