Ultimate Green Lantern Corps #3

Tokyo, Japan
Alan Scott, Guy Gardner and John Stewart walked up the hall of the elegant hotel, footfalls silent on a plush carpet as they headed toward their destination. John was dressed in a nice, if worn, black suit, but Alan and Guy were dressed in their costumed heraldry as the Green Lantern and Warrior, and Alan's purple cloak swept out behind the trio as they made their way.

John stopped the trio at a particular door and knocked twice in rapid succession. A few moments later, after they'd been examined through the peephole of the door, Valentina Vostok opened up for them and quickly ushered the three gentlemen into her suite.

Valentina was looking ragged, dressed casual with a bandage on her right cheek, and another large pad of gauze taped over the back of her hand. She closed the door behind them and smiled as she greeted the broad-shouldered, well-built African-American. They shook hands as she took a moment to enjoy the rugged look of his face and the dark brown eyes that looked at her wounds with concern. “Greetings, John Stewart. It is good to see you have made it so quickly. Much, much faster than I could have expected,” Val welcomed the man in her heavily stilted English.

“Glad we could make it so fast,” John replied as he took her hand in his and nodded. She was such a strong-looking woman, with lustrous blond hair to her shoulders and a sturdy build that still somehow made her look very attractive. “I was lucky to hitch a ride that sped things up,” he added with a grin, and cocked his head toward the legendary super-hero at his side.

“The great Green Lantern,” Valentina replied, giving him a quick once over. She reached out and shook his hand then Guy Gardner's as well. “I am honored to meet such a formidable man.”

“You must love meetin' me then, babe. Guy Gardner, but I'm sure you know me better as Warrior,” Guy said as he took her hand in both of his and shook hard. “And you're...?”

“Valentina Vostok, and yes, I do have some awareness of you,” Val replied coolly. She looked back to John. “I got your message from my office and I must inform you that, yes, we do have some strangeness similar to what you asked. Involving my new associate, come on in. Sit and drink and we will talk.”

She turned and led the three into the parlor, where the Japanese scientist Kimiyo Hoshi sat, sipping at a brandy glass. The slim scientist looked up at the new arrivals, taking in each costumed figure slowly, as if appraising them.

“This is Hoshi, a researcher for Toyotoshi Labs,” Val said in introduction. “We have quite the tale to tell in regards to your inquiry, John. And I suspect it is related to your other investigations.”

Hoshi stood up and gave the men a bow, offering them a look at her legs. A lovely woman, her appearance was marred by the bandages currently wrapped tight around her left leg, from her calf , and up to the mid-thigh. “It is an honor to meet you,” she said softly, in English only lightly accented.

“What the hell happened to you, lady?” Guy asked, staring at the injured leg. Then, he figured quietly, he could use that as an excuse, and so he let his eyes roam to her uninjured leg, appreciating the woman's appearance.

“Dr. Kimiyo,” Hoshi corrected Guy in her soft but steadfast voice, dark eyes looking over everyone present with that icy appraisal. “I was very nearly killed, so I would hope that all of you can make use of what we've learned.” There was an edge to her voice, a tone that told them all she had little faith in the costumes she was looking at.

“A shark attack,” Hoshi then finally answered Guy grimly as she sat back down.

“Let me tell you all a story,” Valentina started as she took to the center of the room, four pairs of eyes focused on her.

Doctor Kimiyo Hoshi made no noise to start as she spun on her heel and headed for the door out of the lab. The monstrosity wasn't going to make it that easy however, and all along his body laterally, where creamy white turned into charcoal gray, he reversed the sensory organs, now not absorbing the bio-electricity that marked moving prey. No, now that same energy lashed out and struck Hoshi's mind, her brain confused for vital moments, spinning in place as the Shark lashed out with the spindly arms and clutched at her.

Now she screamed, in pain and shock, and she struggled to clear her eyes as the beast took hold of her leg and bit hard into the soft flesh and hot blood. She kicked with her free leg, catching the bizarre, almost absurd looking face between the beady eyes, but though it made the beast flinch a bit, her strength was not enough to dislodge her. And she screamed out in pain as she felt pieces of her flesh worried and torn away by the saw-like teeth.

“Bozhe moi!” Valentina called out in shock as she shouldered her way into the room. She'd heard cries, and she'd raced to respond, hoping that she had arrived before the traitors' super-weapon. Instead, now she came face-to-face with the abomination, and here face showed the shock. Instincts kicked in, her body trained and responding as coolly as possible though, for Valentina pulled out her revolver and fired three times quickly. One bullet missed, the second winged it's scrawny shoulder, and the third caught it down in its stomach.

Now the beast roared out in pain and Hoshi dropped to the ground. She rolled away, her leg on fire as blood gushed from the wounds, but she wasn't going to stay in the crossfire. She spun across the floor toward her surprise rescuer as Valentina fired again.

This time though, the Shark was ready and again, it unleashed its potent neural shock and Valentina and Hoshi both grunted in pain. The agent struggled so desperately to keep the grip on her firearm, but it was hopeless as they both heard it clatter to the ground.

“Two for one price,” the creature growled hungrily, further shocking the women. His uninjured arm lashed out, the claws raking wicked slashes over Vostok's face and hand as she tried to defend herself, eyes still blurry from the neural attack. “Eat you for dinner, take sweet thing for dessert.”

“I don't think so,” Hoshi said. She had continued to roll, letting momentum take her over when she lost control of her movements, and now her arms dragged her up to a nearby console. She took half a second to glance at the bleeding agent. She had only heard her speak Russian, which Hoshi didn't know. She had no idea what the blond woman did speak, but hoped she got the intent when she cried out in her own language, “<Get out!>”

Valentina heard the words, saw the look in Hoshi's eyes and darted for the door. The beast lumbered toward them, the minor wounds working against him now, and Hoshi waited as long as she though she could before slapping the emergency control and leaping out after the agent. She screamed in pain as she forced her damaged leg to move, and the beast screamed in frustration as the security doors slammed into place.

Valentina ripped off her shirt to bind up the open gashes and tears in the scientist's leg. “Better than your shirt or skirt,” Valentina explained as she then proceeded to button up her coat. She looked up at the door and then to Hoshi as she heard a further roar and then hissing from the room.

“Fire suppression,” Hoshi said, a weak grin on her pale, sweating face as she lay on the ground, weeping in pain. “No oxygen left...in there...in a few more seconds.”

“That will kill that monstrosity.” Valentina gave her own grim smile as she tied off the makeshift bandage.

“Of course, Miss Vostok couldn't know that there was the hatch out into the bay,” Hoshi added as she finished off the narrative. “So of course, the Shark escaped into the open waters.”

“It did give us a chance to retrieve samples of the beast from the room too,” Valentina added. “We hope that examining the DNA will give us some further clues.”

John took the envelope containing vials of blood and saliva from the remains of Hoshi's former colleague. “We can get that done post-haste, Val. What do you think it will give us for info?”

“No way that beast was natural,” Guy interrupted, looking smug as he put his hands behind his head. “Right? You're hoping that checking the DNA will give you guys some idea of where that thing came from? Thinking it was man-made?”

Hoshi and Val turned to look at Guy, and Hoshi sighed as Val gave him an irritated look. “Your friend is right,” Hoshi answered. “That is what we hope. There aren't many sources of such advanced genetics work, and viable sources of DNA are all recorded. We should get some sort of source.”

“How did you know that?” John asked in amazement as he turned to Guy, who merely shrugged.

“You'd be surprised what you can pick up in a sports bar,” he replied with that irritating smirk.

“I am sure I know what you pick up in bars, Warrior,” Valentina snapped back, and that made Guy start to get to his feet.

“Good!” Alan quickly stated as he moved into the center of the room. He let the symbol on his chest flame slightly to draw attention, and suddenly, the room seemed filled with his presence. Tall, broad-chested, swathed in scarlet and emerald, and his green eyes sweeping everyone. Even Guy settled back into his chair quietly. “That gives us more to go on. Your initial call to John verified that Dr. Kimiyo's company was having issues similar to other locations we're investigating. Did anything come of that? Did you get to explore that at all?”

“Yes, actually,” Val replied with a sly smile and looked up at the powerful man in their midst. “Now that you bring it up.” She pulled out a second folder from a nearby briefcase.

Coast City, California
Emergency workers scrambled around the area, firefighters dousing the flames, and paramedics taking over from Jesse Chambers in keeping the criminal Detonator alive. He remained sedated as they moved him into the ambulance as police secured the equipment they could strip from him. All of this whirled around the glowing green couple as Jesse struggled to compose herself, inwardly berating herself for losing such control of her emotions.

“You know, no one can blame you for losing it like that, Miss...uh...Green Lantern?” Hal Jordan said, trying to soothe her out as flickering green flames kept them separated from the others. “And if you hadn't done what you did, I'd be in far worse shape than that guy.” He gave her one of his patented smiles, all warm and confident, brown eyes looking into her sea-blue eyes. “So I for one, thank you a great deal. The name's Hal. Hal Jordan.”

Jesse nodded and ran her hands through her blond hair. “Yeah. I know. Just...that looked so ugly, and it's not the first time I've messed up like that. I don't know if I'm really cut out for super-powers.”

“You tore an exploding room out of a building in less than an eye-blink, and left the rest of the building intact,” Hal said with a laugh and cocked his thumb to point at the gaping hole high up in the wall behind them. “I'd say you got this power thing down pat.”

“Flash,” Jesse said to him, as she returned his smile, feeling better, her heart slowing as she regained her composure. She paused for a moment, and saw him start to form the words she knew was going to come next. Not Flash, that's the speedsters, she let race through her head. I'm not Lady Flash anymore, not even Jesse Quick. But I'm still quick, still a Flash, Jay had always told me that, her mind raced. Before Hal could even form the first sound she'd added, “Jade Flash. Yeah, Jade Flash, and I'm a Lantern, right.” She lifted her hand up to reveal the ring she wore.

“A Lantern? Now that sounds like a career. Where do I sign up?” Hal replied as he looked at her ring, and then reached out to touch it, watch it spark against his finger.

“We'll talk to the original when we meet up with him again. Could be there's a spot for you. I've no idea how many he's looking for, but I wouldn't mind having you around,” Jesse answered with a sweet smile. The ambulance raced off, screaming sirens slicing up the air again and Jesse shook her head to refocus her attentions. “Right. I'm here on a mission.”

“The financial garbage that's going on in Ferris?” Hal asked with great interest.

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“That's why I was in that office. I was trying to get some lead on what's happening to the funding on my project,” Hal explained. “It's classified, I can't get into details, but needless to say, someone's been stalling it, and it's top priority so that's just really cutting into the company's bottom line.”

“And that brought you to Nave Handling Company?” Jesse didn't make the connection at first, until Hal explained the fates of his recent supervisors, and the details surrounding them. “And that brought you here. Probably to get you, and anyone else poking their noses, out of the way.”

“We need to look at that nut case's equipment,” Hal said as he watched the police van drive off. “I'm betting it can give us some idea of where the gear came from and who hired him.”

“Right. Okay then, time to follow a police van. Hold on tight,” Jesse said as she started to lift them both into the air.

“Darn. Such a high price to pay to fly,” Hal teased her as he indeed held on tight.

High above the Earth...
...Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of modern legend, floated and gazed down on the white and blue orb. He was wreathed in emerald flames, flickering against the vacuum of space in defiance of physical law at the will of their master. He could feel his fingers pulse every so often, a different finger at different times, with each use of one of his rings by one of his chosen bearers. He could sense every iota of the mysterious energy that now flooded his body without need for the lantern he'd carved decades ago. This energy stretched his senses further out, back down to the Earth below, to his ring bearers and their allies and he allowed himself a smile. So far, he'd chosen well.

Far below, his connection to the rings extended his senses to the scene, as his old friend John Stewart and the scientist, Kimiyo Hoshi, worked at a government laboratory.

“Faster...double the rotations per second if you can, Mr. Stewart,” Hoshi guided as she watched the emerald flames formed a facsimile of the intricate machinery needed to separate the genetic material. “Good. Very good.” She stared as she watched the energy at work, and then she watched as flickering words made of green sparks and embers etched themselves into a fake monitor screen. All the while, John knit his brow in concentration, sweat beading at his temples.

“Much longer, Dr. Kimiyo?” he asked in a soft voice, and he closed his eyes to help focus. The application of such potent flames was difficult enough, but this fine work almost seemed beyond him. He realized why Alan asked him to help with this. He'd used delicate tools and machinery in his own work when he was an architect. He couldn't picture a thug like Gardner trying this.

“A few minutes longer, which is astounding,” Hoshi replied as she made notes on a pad of paper and then asked for a few more minor adjustments. She heard him grunt a bit but the unbelievable construct responded as she'd requested. “This should have taken so much longer, but we're nearly there, Mr. Stewart.”

“John,” he said softly as he commanded the ring to add a negative charge to the bottom of the 'machine' at her instruction.

“John,” Hoshi repeated and gave him a momentary smile as thanks. “There. Now to input the DNA tag into the database,” she said, swiveling in her chair and letting her fingers run over the keyboard. “You can relax now...John.”

He nodded and let the fiery machine collapse into a contained sphere, and stored the separated matter before putting it away. He stretched his tired fingers, letting the knuckles crack as Hoshi ran through the database. “We have it. The material is in the possession of Bioshpeer Technologies Group.”

“Did you get that, Alan?” John asked as the ringer flickered and glittered at the question.

Back above the world, Alan Scott did indeed hear, and had already sent instructions back down to the other two teams. He was surprised to find a strange man with Jesse Chambers, but she seemed to put faith and trust in this Hal Jordan, so he said nothing and let the two proceed. As he passed them the information, they were arriving at the police storage and picking their way in quietly to find Detonator's gear.

“If we can connect Biospheer to Detonator, then I think we've got our connection,” Jesse said as the pair moved quietly down the hall.

“It'll be a step in the right direction. 'Course, we'll need to figure out what Biospheer's up to, what they're hoping to get,” Hal replied as they looked down the corridor and both saw the door ajar. “Looks like we're not alone.”

Jesse's ring flared to life and in a streak of green, she threw open the door and lit the darkened interior. Inside stood a man in brass-colored armor, a mix of Classical Greek and modern technology: flexible plates over his chest and arms; legs in greaves; a shield on his right arm, a short sword glittering in the verdant glow, clutched tightly in the left. The warrior didn't hesitate as he lashed out at the sudden appearance, the sword swinging down and cracking against the flaming field suddenly bursting to life around Jesse.

“Who the hell are you?” Hal demanded as he ran up and tried to lock his arms around the strange man's sword arm. He was strong, possibly stronger than Hal, and the pilot put all his effort into locking the arm into place as the helmeted face swung over to glare down at the interference.

“Myrmidon, deadmeat,” the warrior growled through the metal, and he swung his shield in an arc to crash into the back of Hal's head. With the release on his weapon, Myrmidon quickly thrust at Jesse, but he was quickly blocked by a fiery sword generated by the lady's ring. “Dammit! This thing's supposed to be monowire, slice through anything!” he growled in frustration.

“Well, guess monomolecular tech isn't all it's cracked up to be then,” she replied with a grin as she lashed out with bolt of green lightning, and it sizzled against the breast-plate, hurling Myrmidon back and causing cracks and sparks throughout the armor. As he staggered to his feet, he noticed that the new heroine, Jade Flash, stood right next to him already, arms on her hips and a cocky smirk spreading over her face.

“Myrmidon, huh? That's sad. Why didn't you just call yourself Hired Thug, and get it over with?” She lashed out with her ringed fist, and as she punched his helmet, several emerald fists lashed out to join her real one, cracking the helmet and breaking it from the roughhewn, weathered face beneath. “Would have been more honest, since really, you're not much of a Myrmidon, if I remember my Greek myths.”

The criminal fell to his knees then collapsed unconscious, as Hal stepped up behind Jade Flash. One hand rubbed the back of his neck as he groaned and shook his head clear. “I'm so glad I was here to help,” he teased her. “I'll check out what remains of this pile of junk, and you go look up Detonator's gear?”

Alan received the information from Jesse, confirming the involvement of Biospheer Technologies. As suspected, and he turned his attention to Guy and the Russian agent, Vostok. He was worried about pairing them together, but there was little choice, and the woman seemed professional enough. He focused on their efforts as Valentina used the faked credentials and supremely honed skills in fast talk and bluffing to pass through the front doors of the target company.

“You know, all this James Bond stuff is just not my style,” Gardner complained as he tugged on the collar of his suit, a snarl on his lips. “I could just blast us in and out and grab the info. What's so wrong with that?”

“Because, you roughneck, this company could be just another, as you call it, Patty? They may not know what they are being manipulated into,” Valentina snapped back as they flashed more authority and reached the accounting department held within the large complex.

“Patsy,” Guy corrected with a roll of the eyes. “You Russkies should at least learn the lingo if you're gonna at last give it up and turn good.”

“Turn...good?” Valentina whispered in an icy chill. She turned and glared at the redheaded lunk of a man.

“Yeah, capitalism, democracy, Mom and apple pie. You know, all the good things that come now that you guys admitted you were wrong and lost the Cold War,” Guy said in an easy answer. There was no insult or taunt in his voice, he spoke as if it were just a fact.

Valentina, however, fumed now, her hands rolled up into tight fists as she struggled to keep her calm. “Lost? Wrong? You...” She stopped herself and glared at a secretary, then barked orders at the poor young woman before she completely lost control.

As the pair looked through financial records and connections, Guy looked back over at Valentina. He finally decided she wasn't bad looking, for a Russian, and gave her his biggest, cockiest smile. “You know, you've got a lot going on upstairs, and something decent going on just a little lower,” he winked as he nodded toward her chest. “You and me, we should go and talk some more politics. I'm thinking a nice steak dinner, and then some beers at my place?”

“Tell Green Lantern that we have his source,” Valentina replied as she shook in her seat, teeth clenched as she struggled for control.

“Ajan Enterprises?” Alan mused as he heard the name. “That sounds familiar. John?”

“It should, they're a major front company and launderer for KOBRA,” John answered. “Send the others the coordinates for their home office, and I'll meet you all there, now that we know who's behind all this.” His voice sounded concerned as Alan passed the information to the others. Valentina also sounded upset at the news, and Alan sensed the sudden flare of energies that indicated his agents propelling themselves at top speed.

“Kobra,” Green Lantern mused as he let himself start to drop down into the atmosphere. “Why does that sound familiar?” He continued to muse on the thought until he gave a firm nod of his head and diverted his course. Three power rings should be able to handle whatever was at the corporation. He had something else to figure out, and there was only one person to get the information from.

Green Lantern dropped faster and faster, a green dart hurtling toward the East Coast of the United States. Then toward New England, then to the strip of land just above Boston, and the glittering, if grimy, diamond that was Gotham City sitting just off of Cape Anne. He slipped through the elaborate defenses of Barbara Gordon, Oracle to the superhero community.

The redheaded woman was taken momentarily off-guard by the sudden green glow, but quickly relaxed as she saw the flames flicker away and Green Lantern stand before her. “Sorry to disturb you, Oracle, but I need confirmation on what happened with Jenny-Lynn and her friends.” He thought briefly on Jade, Jenny-Lynn Hayden, the sweet young woman who was so positive that he was her father. He wished he was, she seemed the sort of girl any man could be proud to call daughter. But he had no children, it wasn't possible, much to the dismay of he and Molly. If only I could have... He cut off the thought, and returned to the girl he viewed as a foster daughter regardless of blood. “Your Birds of Prey encountered Kobra and his cult?”

“Yes, and busted them up pretty good,” Barbara said with a proud smile as she called up the file and let Green Lantern read it. “She's actually with the Outsiders, if that's okay? She seemed kind of old to be on the trainee team, even though she's not really all that well trained. And she and Flamebird...”

“That's fine, Oracle,” Alan cut her off. “Sorry. I'm on a time limit. This says that Kobra's had to cut his losses pretty hard in the aftermath of the HAARP incident. Can you get me information on Ajan Enterprises?”

“Sure,” Barbara said, her fingers flying over the keyboard. “Seems they've been bought out. Probably for quick, liquid capital for the cult. Trying to pin down the buyer.”

Sudden, Alan felt the three fingers of his right hand throb, the ones in sympathetic reach with his ringbearers. He could feel the throbbing turn sharp and then they faded, and he stood straight and rigid. “Dear God, too late!”

He streaked up and away, leaving Barbara looking at the dying sparks of the green fire where he had stood. She turned back to her computers, and called up satellite footage of Ajan Enterprises's corporate headquarters, only to find a fiery inferno.