Post by HoM on Feb 15, 2016 17:47:36 GMT -5
Previously, in GREEN LANTERN CORPS…
Everyone’s had a difficult go of it these last few months--
Physically cut into pieces by the mad Kryptonian scientist XA-DU, GUY GARDNER had to put himself back together using his ring and wits alone to help save a Daxamite colony after they were all exposed to lead! Now the survivors are stuck in the Phantom Zone as the Corps analyse the cure XA-DU provided to cover his escape!
Meanwhile, HANK HENSHAW’s severe PTSD and clinical depression was exacerbated by the machinations of LEX LUTHOR and TERRI HENSHAW, the Green Lantern’s seemingly resurrected ex-wife! HANK was pushed to the very edge of sanity, and at his lowest, he was deemed to lack the willpower to wield a power ring, and was ejected from the Corps!
KYLE RAYNER, under the tutelage of THAAL SINESTRO, was training to utilise the powers inside him that made him the White Lantern, but after he accidentally changed all of reality with one sentence, KYLE willingly let go of all the energy that empowered him and is now completely off the grid, with no one knowing where he ended up!
Welcome back to the ongoing adventures of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS!
After a long journey from Earth through space and back again, John Stewart finished up his dinner, washed and dried the dishes, then slumped down in front of the television. He picked up his copy of ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ by Jane Jacobs and-- was about to turn off his television when a news broadcast caught his eye.
John had a habit of having his ring automatically swap through news channels from throughout the world when he was eating, making sure he was plugged into the events of the world from a layman’s perspective. He knew well enough that what the media portrayed wasn’t necessarily the truth, but that’s why he had the ring-- to sift through the half-truths and lies.
The broadcast that caught his eye was from a foreign channel, Japanese apparently, that showed five teenagers standing in exciting poses, lots of colour and light swirling behind them. What had caught John’s attention was the fact that the teenagers had something on their hands-- their fingers-- with odd symbols on their facades. These kids were wielding power rings--!
Emerald subtitles sprang from John’s ring, translating the kanji-- SAVIOURS OF JAPAN--! NEWEST SUPER TEAM SENSATION--! ULTRA ELEMENT FORCE 5--!
“Who are you?” asked John. “And where did you get those rings?”
“How are you feeling today, Guy?” asked Katma Tui, visiting the medical centre in the Citadel of the Green Lantern Corps where Gardner was currently situated.
Wearing a pair of battered jeans and white t-shirt, Guy shrugged and checked the scars left over from his experience on the Daxamite colony. He was sat on a hospital bed, hard light constructs surrounding him and keeping tabs on his current status.
“Healing up. I’m told the ring is helping with the, uh, deep tissue damage, and with all the doctors focusing their will on me too I’ll be a-okay in no time. Ready for active duty. But who gives a damn about me-- how’re the Daxamites?”
“The serum Xa-Du designed is still being analysed. None of our Lanterns have been able to duplicate the chemical composition yet, so we’re having to be very careful with what we do with it. Green Lantern Saarek has been able to communicate with the survivors in the Phantom Zone-- something about the nature of their non-corporeal forms-- and they’re effectively in stasis. Some were injured by the Kryptonian’s experiments; they were all exposed to lead… it’s trying.”
“How long before we try the serum?” asked Guy.
“Salaak is concerned it might kill them, while Sinestro is coming round to the thinking that the serum is legitimate. Sodam Yat wants to expose himself to lead and try the serum, so we’re keeping him as far away from this as possible. He’s reckless.”
“Brave though,” said Guy. “Went toe-to-toe with a Kryptonian. Most who do don’t end up looking as handsome as he did. Or me.” He thought about it for a moment. “But a test subject… maybe we ask Saarek to ask the Daxamites for a volunteer? To at least try?”
“I’m afraid that’s not your decision to make, Lantern Gardner.” Salaak entered the medical centre to address the two Lanterns. “After what happened to you on the colony, I think it’s best that you go back to Sector 2814 until this situation is concluded. You went through a lot, and--”
“You’re grounding me?” spat Guy. “I’m absolutely fine! I’m healing-- hell, I’m healed, just ask the docs!-- I’m an Honour Lantern, I know what--”
“No,” said Salaak. “Honour Lantern privileges have been revoked for the time being. With Hank Henshaw’s expulsion from the Corps--*”
“What?!” said Guy. “What happened to Hank?!”
“You weren’t supposed to tell him like this,” said Katma.
“Lantern Gardner needs to hear this,” said Salaak. “From Lantern Sinestro’s report, you behaved rashly, which could have led to dozens of Daxamites dying. You let the situation take control of you, rather than you controlling the situation. An Honour Lantern must be above reproach in all things. Until this situation is remedied, you will return to your duties as a Sector Lantern. What is it you would say in this situation? ‘’Get your head straight’?”
“That’s bullcrap, I knew-- I had--” Guy started, but faltered quickly when everyone started to stare at him. “Right. All right. You saw the ringfeed. You know what happened. That’s fine. I understand. I’ll head back to 2814-- I assume that’s my assignment?”
“Correct,” said Salaak. “I think it best Lantern Tui inform you of Henshaw’s current status. I’m glad you aren’t taking this personally, Gardner.”
“Yeah. Personally. Not me, nope,” said Guy. He stood and his ring generated his Corps uniform. “Katma, could you fly me to the sector boundary and catch me up?”
“And… action.”
“Action? Just you watch.” Smiling slyly, Kaori Nakamura held out her closed fist, then slowly rolled her ring finger out until the crimson band around it began to glow. An aura began to spread from her ring to her hand, down her wrist and up her arm, until it covered her entire body. The heat mirage surrounded her and then burned brightest white, obscuring her body, until a split second later she was wearing a red and white costume with flame motif running up the side. She clicked her fingers at winked. “Fire Mistress Red, activate!”
Silently spinning micro tornadoes leaped out of Kanako Tanahashi’s ring and engulfed her as she smiled, the whirlwinds swirling around her body until she too was transformed into her superhero self, a grey and white costume with swirling shapes present from her hips to under her arms. When her uniform appeared she pirouetted, bowing toward the camera. “Wind Witch White, present!”
Tomoko Makabe’s ring caused tremors to rumble up from the ground. Mounds of earth, taking on the property of liquid, spread up her legs and covered her entire body until she was totally encased-- a few seconds later the substance shattered and fell away to show her wearing a brown and black super sit, craggy shapes marking her sides. “Earth Stone Master, here!”
Water spilled from inside Akifumi Okada’s ring-- him being the only male member of the team-- and he watched as it took on a life of its own, swirling out and splashing back, covering his body and pooling it down to his feet so that it revealed a costume that was blue and white, waves resembling water at his sides like the others. “Hydro Caster Blue, ready to go!”
Finally, Kyoko Goto raised both of her hands up from her hips, luminescent light throbbing from her fingertips. Energy crashed across her body, and her costume formed, yellow and white, lightning bolts lining her sides and moving down her arms to her wrists. “Ether Void Queen. 1… 2… 3…”
Kaori winked. “…Let’s rock.”
The five members of Ultra Element Force 5 posed dramatically, ready for action, and the director called out “Cut!”
The team powered down, the energy they’d generated fading back into their rings, but their costumes remaining.
“How much more of this is there?” asked Kanako. “I want to go home and shower. The party is tonight.”
“Soon,” said the director. “A few more takes, okay?”
“Don’t worry about it, Kana,” said Kaori. “You get bored, we can always shoot it without you.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” said Kanako. “I can go as long as you. Longer, even.”
“Ladies, please,” said Akifumi. “Some professionalism, please. Ultra Element Force 5 needs to put their--”
“Blah, blah, blah,” said Kaori, interrupting. “Tomoko agrees with me.”
“Tomoko certainly does not,” said Tomoko. “Tomoko-- who, as we all know, hates referring to herself in the third person-- wants to be kept out of these arguments. And would it not make sense for me to say ‘Let’s rock’, at the end?”
Kyoko shook her head. “Please. Let’s get this done. Tonight promises to be a long one. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we get to leave.”
“Why isn’t she the leader?” asked Kanako.
“Kaori is not the leader of this team!” said Akifumi.
Kaori grinned. “Blah. Director-san, we’re ready to go.”
“I’m not as up to date on the superhero scene in Japan as you might expect. The culture there is a bit different to what you might expect having grown up here.”
Green Lantern had no idea where to begin when it came to the Japanese superhero scene, so went to the one woman he thought might have some kind of insight. Kimiyo Hoshi, known as Doctor Light, was an active member of the Justice League, and having met her previously in their line of work, he thought she might be the best person to consult on this case so far.
The two of them were sat on a balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean, sipping from mugs of coffee made from a genetically engineered strain Blue Beetle had been tinkering with. It warmed them deeply, and the conversation flowed smoothly between them.
“Heh, growing up, I wasn’t too interested in what went on beyond my neighbourhood,” said John.
“Oh, that’s interesting,” said Kimiyo. “So, what do you know about Japan’s superhero scene?”
“Nothing much,” said John. “Big Science Action were big in the seventies, weren’t they?”
“They still are,” said Kimiyo. “They’re like Japan’s Justice Society. Generational heroes, still led by Takeo Sato-- Sunburst-- after all this time. Thanks to their powersets a lot of these heroes have been kept young, so they never stop. The thing about these teams, these heroes, is that they’re worshipped. You got kids dressing up like them, emulating them, creating their own secret identities. Heck, some even have their own TV shows.”
Kimiyo began to smile, remembering something. “When I was a kid, I used to love watching Sunburst Science Action Hour when I should have been studying. Although my father wasn’t…” She trailed off “…Oh, nevermind. But you say you saw this group, Ultra Element Force 5, on the news? They’re a big deal right now. You know about the Monster War?”
“From the sixties, seventies?” offered John.
“A dimensional tear opened up above the country. Monsters came out. Ultimon and the heroes that eventually became Big Science Action saved Japan. Made them legends. Well, a few months back, the dimensional tear threatened to open again, and it was Ultra Element Force 5 who sealed it shut. Now, apart from that, apart from the newscasts, I have a friend in Tokyo who might be able to help you. He’s really plugged into the scene there nowadays. He’ll be right smack dab in the middle of it tonight.”
“I’d appreciate it, Doctor Hoshi. Any help you can offer would be brilliant,” said John, watching as Hoshi jotted down a name for him.
“So, what’s so special about these guys?” asked Hoshi.
John held up his right hand. “They had power rings.”
“Oh… that could be bad,” said Hoshi. “Is that normal?”
“Not at all. That’s why I’m thrown by this whole thing.”
Doctor Light nodded. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“See, it might be nothing,” said John. “It might be fake-- CGI, for all I know. I don’t want to waste the time of an esteemed member of the Justice League.”
Kimiyo laughed and shook her head. “Sure, that much is obvious. But look, it’s not… what you expect, over there. Just be careful.”
John saluted as he lifted off and began to float off the floor. “Always am, Doctor. Thanks for the consult.”
“Planet-reactors are active. We have complete control of the situation.”
“The Soul Forge is running at optimum levels.”
“The Immersion Protocol is currently counting down.”
“Supposition-- this will make the lights of the localised space region go out. All energy sources will be drained to zero.”
“We’re prepared for that eventuality. All non-essentials are out in the dark.”
“Essentials are in the control dome.”
“Non-essentials will die. Frozen to death in the resulting spatial distortion. Exploded.”
“Acceptable losses. It begins. Immersion Protocol at three… two… one…”
The entire planet shook and at the heart of the world, where there was once a burning, spinning molten core, there was now a deep pool of black and bronze that flowed and crackled as the indestructible claws descended into its heart.
“Explain the science.”
“Of course. Souls are energy. And it is a matter of cosmic certainty that energy cannot be destroyed. It can only be transferred. Moved.”
“What those in the outside call the afterlife, we can refer to as a staging area. A place where energy awaits transference.”
“The soul forge reaches into the staging area and locates the soul-- the relevant energy-- we require to begin building our agent.”
“Our brothers built the Green Lantern Corps and yet there is still chaos in the universe.”
“That chaos has a name. And an army that grows every single day.”
Klaxons began to blare throughout the control dome. The pincers deep within the Soul Forge began to ratchet up, dragging something back out.
“The First emerges-- and he will build our own army of sentinels to protect the universe.”
“Jesus H Christ! Why am I the last one to hear about this?” asked Gardner, doing a double take after Katma’s words sank in.
“No one wanted to upset you during the healing process,” said Katma. “It looks like Henshaw suffered some kind of mental breakdown. His willpower wavered, his ring left him. John Stewart dealt with it back on Earth.”
“And where is he now?” asked Gardner. “I should… I should talk to him.”
“You’ve both been through hell,” said Katma. “Stewart asked for autonomy to deal with the situation. We’re giving him the benefit of the doubt right now.”
“God…” muttered Guy. “That poor bastard…”
“You went through some stuff with him a few months ago, when Arisia and I saved your backsides? Are you ever going to share the details of what happened?””
“Well… the Saberhagen female that held us captive reached into Hank’s head and shook him up. Said all kinds of things to him, made him… made him doubt, you know? In our trade, that’s the worst. He said he was okay. Said he’d been through worse… but if he had been through worse… and it piles on and on and on, at what point does he break? I just wished… he…” Guy trailed off. “We’re at the edge of the sector. I’ll dip into subluminal and get home in no time. Thanks for taking the time, Katma.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” asked Katma. “Any other questions?”
“Nah. But if you don’t mind… anything that happens with the Daxamites… the Phantom Zone… let me know?”
“Of course,” said Katma. “Stay safe, Guy.”
“Yeah, you too.” Guy nodded and accessed the tunnels that linked every sector the Green Lantern Corps patrolled. He let himself fall inside and then shot through the universe, heading back to Sector 2814, and Earth.
It might have been nothing, John knew that. But cargo cult power rings on Earth, in the hands of kids, made him feel uneasy. When he spoke to them, when he found out where the rings came from, he’d feel more comfortable. The journey wouldn’t take much time, and considering Laputa was already floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, his travel time wouldn’t be that long at all.
After two buzzes, a projection of Guy Gardner’s head appeared over John’s ring as he shot across the ocean. “How you doing, Johnny boy?”
“Everything’s fine, just looking into a weird one Earth-side,” replied John. “I heard you’re headed back home?”
“Yeah, I’m in Salaak’s bad books. So you’ve got a problem Earth-side? That’s increasingly rare nowadays. Do you need any back up? I can zero in on your position, come help you out?”
John smiled. “Already itching to get back on the saddle?”
“Ah, being back on sector duty is fine and all, but I’m used to flitting about the universe. After what happened back on that Daxamite colony, I’m lucky I’m not still Oa-bound and on medical lockdown.”
“You’re lucky to have survived,” said John. “I’m not even sure how you did…”
“Have a little faith, man. I know how to put myself back together after getting cut up into little pieces by a mad scientist. Anyway, I’m going to bounce around the sector looking for trouble. Call me if you need anything. In fact, call in regularly, if you can. After being comm-locked and picked apart… Ah, I’m still getting my head on straight.”
“I will do,” said John. Guy’s head didn’t vanish from above John’s ring. “There something else?”
“Where’s Hank, John?” asked Guy. “Katma gave me the cliff notes. But…”
“He’s somewhere safe,” said John. “He went through a lot, and he got burnt out. He needs time to heal.”
“And his ring? I mean, Salaak isn’t going to chase for it, they trust you-- same as me-- but I’m curious, are you slinging with two rings?”
John held up his hands to the projection, showing only his own ring. “Nope. But it’s safe. Like him.”
“Say no more, you know what you’re doing,” said Guy. “Stay safe.”
“And you,” said John. The communication ended, and John picked up speed, skimming across the surface of the sea.
Wednesday night, and Martin Dolnick was walking his wife’s dog when he happened upon the homeless man peering through the window of the brownstone. He didn’t live on the street he realised was devoid of any other activity, the street he realised was completely empty apart from the homeless man, his wife’s dog, and himself, but before this moment he always liked the way the trees arched over the road, and it didn’t hurt that the houses were all beautiful. But all that previous enjoyment was sapped out of him. He was alone. And there was this man…
The homeless man pawed at the window with grubby, stained fingers, and Martin could hear him muttering to himself as he tried to look inside the home he’d targeted. “Where… where…”
Martin picked up the pace but his dog barked at the homeless man, who swung his head around at the sudden noise. Martin froze in fear as the man turned his attention to him, his blackened fingers reaching into his hooded jacket as he began to shake. “Oh! Oh, I’m sorry!”
His wife’s dog continued to bark, even as the homeless man began to smile, his yellowed teeth visible between blackened lips.
The homeless man looked ill. His skin was pale to the extent of looking grey and his lips were darker than they had any right to be. Dark black rings circled his eyes and Martin felt his fear transform into terror.
“They… moved…” said the man. He opened his jacket and pulled out a silver rod with a blinking emerald light on the end. “I tracked them… down… and he’s… gone…”
“I’m-- I’m--” Martin backed up. His legs refused to go any faster than the awkward shuffle he was currently demonstrating, but the homeless man wasn’t making immediate moves toward him. The homeless man seemed to almost float toward the street, movements slow, considered, a straight line away from the window.
“Don’t… don’t go,” whispered the man. “I… I need…”
The homeless man raised the rod in his hand up and in fright, Martin accidentally released the leash holding the dog. The small yapping animal rushed toward the homeless man and clawed at his leg. With a dismissive shrug, the man blasted the dog into oblivion with an emerald blast of light, and then shot Martin through the chest, causing him to keel over, gibbering as blood filled his mouth.
“Hal Jordan took… a piece of me… before I died… and I want that piece back...”
The homeless man rubbed his hand across Martin’s mouth, covering his fingers in his victim’s blood. “…So I can finally rest…”
The homeless man grabbed Martin by the hair and dragged him into the alley, into the dark, where he would end his suffering after extending it further than anyone would think possible.
John Stewart hovered over the capital of Japan for hours, until day turned to night, his ring extending an invisible web of sensors over the city as he sought to pull in as much information as possible before tracking down the members of Ultra Element Force 5. He had the name of Doctor Light’s contact in his pocket, but hadn’t bothered to check it out yet. John preferred to do his due diligence first, so that when he was speaking to someone about whatever situation he found himself in, he didn’t look like a complete moron.
“Then again, intel is intel,” John murmured to himself, as he began to take out the piece of paper.
Before he could read the name of the contact, John’s ring buzzed as a figure shot up from the city below, and he vaguely recognised the man who came into focus as he approached. A Green Lantern ring held every language in the known universe, and it would automatically translate John’s voice and those of any in the vicinity. He swallowed, and readied himself.
The figure was one of Japan’s premier heroes, Ultimon, wearing an intricate-- and according to John’s power ring, ancient-- power suit that was a vibrant gold and blue piercing the mid-morning sky. If it wasn’t for the crackle of energy surrounding him, john might have half-thought that Ultimon was part of the beautiful Japanese skyline.
“Green Lantern-san, is there a crisis at hand?” asked Ultimon, his English perfect, albeit heavily-accented. “The dimensional rift--?”
“Everything’s fine, sir,” said Green Lantern. “No crises at the moment.”
Ultimon nodded, his expressionless mask not belying any emotion. “When a western superhero enters our skies, we are quick to think the worst.”
“Though I doubt there’s anything the world could throw your way that you couldn’t handle, Ultimon-san. It was the Ultimon Society that defeated the Colonizers, was it not?”
Ultmon considered the question. “The monsters Scarrba, Kry-Torr and Lorloxx took everything we threw at them, but we survived to see the sun rise another day. You are kind, Green Lantern-san. Can I assist you in any way?”
“I would hate to intrude,” said John, shaking his head. “I’m here out of curiosity more than anything.”
“You are here to speak to Ultra Element Force 5?” offered Ultimon.
“How did you know?” asked John, somewhat taken aback.
“Ring bearing super powers are rare, so correlations are made between heroes here and where you reside,” said Ultimon. “Come, there’s a gathering tonight in honour of one of our greatest heroes. Have you ever been to Roppongi?”
Green Lantern and Ultimon headed down toward the Roppongi district of Tokyo. The bright lights and noise showed it to be a thriving part of the city, and John identified innumerable bars through the area. He’d heard stories from old friends about Roppongi, the party district. Yakuza ran establishments here once, but that unfortunate business had died down a decade or so back.
The two heroes landed on a rooftop garden, filled with other, garishly-clad, superheroes. A number of them nodded in acknowledgement at Ultimon, while others began to whisper in hushed tones when they saw the Green Lantern.
“Green Lantern-san!” A young man with a green Mohawk approached the two new arrivals. “I’m a massive fan! I’ve shaped my whole super persona on you and your fellow Green Lanterns. I am Big Atomic Lantern Boy. I was hoping you might--”
“I’m afraid Green Lantern hasn’t the time for you right now,” said Ultimon, waving Big Atomic Lantern Boy away. John looked back as he was led toward the interior of the building and shrugged at the young man, who slumped over in disappointment.
“…I only wanted to see if you’d speak to Shiny Happy Aquazon for me…” murmured Big Atomic Lantern Boy, as he wandered away.
“You don’t think you were too harsh on the kid?” asked Green Lantern.
“The Super Young Team are unworthy of your time,” said Ultimon. “This new generation of superhero, they’re more interested in the glory, the reward, than the action to undertake such things.”
“Huh,” said Green Lantern. “I’m sure they just need an opportunity to show their worth. Didn’t the Utra Force lot--”
Before Green Lantern could continue, a familiar voice interrupted. “Johnny Stewart?! Is that you, you old jarhead?!”
John did a double take at the man who addressed him so boisterously. He was leaning against the bar in a tuxedo, numerous women surrounding him and smiling. The Green Lantern recognised the man, even after all these years, and even after the accident the man had experienced that left him disfigured.
“Holy crap,” said John. “Ultimon-san, I apologise, but my friend there--”
Ultmon nodded. “The guest of honour.”
John was taken aback. “Huh?”
Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho, slid across the floor and embraced John Stewart. “What the hell are you doing here, Builder?”
“I’m on Green Lantern business, Mason, but my God, I didn’t expect to see you here,” said John, returning the sentiment. “They put this party together for you?”
“Yeah! I split my time between Japan and the US. They love me over here, even with all this,” Rex motioned across his face, the lumpen, elemental material that made up his features twisting into a smile, “I’m a bit of an icon, it’s weird, and weird suits me fine.”
“God. Congratulations, I didn’t… wow. Just, wow,” said John. “Makes a change from our old military days. Less sand.”
“Ha! C’mon,” said Rex, “thanks for bringing my friend, Ultimon-san. You always know how to make a party great!”
Ultimon bowed and then headed into the crowd of heroes, leaving the two old friends to catch up as they entered one of the side rooms.
“You’re here about Ultra Element Force 5, the ring bearers?” said Rex, straight to the point.
“How come everyone knows I was coming?” said John, smiling. “But yeah, I needed to see it with my own two eyes.”
“Yeah, elemental powers mainlined through power rings,” said Rex. “Weird stuff. Kimiyo told me you were coming.”
“She did?” John reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper with the name of Doctor Light’s source-- Rex Mason. “II’ll be.”
“Japan’s superhero scene is more mainstream than America’s. You get hate from the media over there for being different, unless you’re all-American good looking like Superman. Couple of years back, Sapphire had some business interests on this side of the world so I took the opportunity to come over, and they embraced me like nobody’s business.”
“I’m happy for you, Rex, honestly. And this party?”
“I made an impact,” said Rex. “They loved my powers, what I could do, and I played up to it a bit. Hung out with Big Science Action, fought some kaiju with Ultimon. Now, if you want to meet that team of kids, they were given invites. They’re late, of course, but that’s kid these days.”
“Typical,” said John. He put his arm around Rex. “So this is a party, right? Let’s celebrate and see if we can’t get to the bottom of this at the same time.”
“Sounds good to me, man,” said Rex. “Saki on tap, I swear to God.”
Gardner landed behind the police cordon, confused by the flurry of activity on the street. The energy signature he’d picked up as he approached Earth was unique, something his ring had never detected before.
When Guy appeared, nobody paid him any heed, more concerned with the crime scene, so as an office moved passed by he touched her on the shoulder to stop her from walking away. “Office, I’m sorry, what’s going on here?”
The woman nearly jumped out of her skin “Huh? Ah! Jeez, Green Lantern? What are you doing here?” she asked. “I didn’t realise we called in a super-person.”
“You didn’t,” said Guy. “I picked up some odd energy signatures, thought I’d look in on this.”
“I can point you in the direction of the lead detective,” said the officer. “Johansson, over there--”
The officer pointed, and Guy thanked her, heading toward the balding, moustached detective stood at the mouth of an alley where the majority of the police were focused. The alley had been obscured by a white tent, and only people wearing pristine-white clean suits were coming and going.
“Green Lantern. Not the one usually seen around here, are ya?” said Johansson. “Dark hair, that one. And a mask?”
“Yeah, he retired. I’m Guy Gardner,” Guy held out his hand and Johansson took it. “I picked up an energy discharge that was weird as ####, so I thought I’d check in.”
“Energy discharge?” Johansson looked back at where the crime scene unit worked away. “I can’t even say. The perp did a hell of a lot of damage. So, you’re out? No secret identity or whatever they call it?”
“Nah,” Guy said, before gesturing toward the alley. “May I?”
“Sure,” said Johansson. “That ring gonna keep my crime scene free of contaminates from ya?”
“Yeah,” said Guy. He floated through the white tent and arrived in a horror show. The walls were painted with blood and the body of a man in his late fifties was spread from one end of the alley to another.
Guy looked around and grit his teeth, knowing full well where they were stood.
“Something familiar to all this?” asked Johansson. “Seen it before?”
“Nothing like this, no,” said Guy. “But I know who used to live there.” He pointed at the brownstone, to his right. The exterior walls were covered in grime and blood. A bloody black hand print sapped sticky to the window.
“Oh? Who’s that then?”
Guy’s gritted teeth twisted into an angry grimace. “An old friend.”
Guy had been here last Christmas*. Hal Jordan and Chloe Sullivan once lived in that brownstone with their daughter Jessica, before moving out when Chloe’s job required her to go into hiding. He could track him down if he needed to, but right now, he knew that involving Hal in whatever was going on would be asking for an emerald fury to rain down on whoever tore this woman to shreds.
“Can ya give me anything to go on, Gardner?”
Guy pointed his ring at the window and scanned the fingerprints with one strand of light while another began to analyse the blood samples littering the scene. “Fingerprints are being checked through all available databases. Blood too.”
Guy’s ring pinged.
“You gotta be kidding me…” whispered Guy. “There are at least a dozen separate blood samples here. The main one belonging to a Mr Martin Dolnick, who I assume is the victim. The others… match murders trailing all the way from San Francisco to here.” He blinked. “Apart from one. But that can’t be possible…”
“If ya got something, ya need to share it,” said Johansson.
“The energy discharge was a distortion of the type stored in our rings,” said Guy. “And the blood sample that’s thrown me? It belongs to William Hand.”
“I know that name,” said Johansson. “He’s a super ####face, isn’t he?”
“Black Hand,” said Guy Gardner. “I thought he died months ago… but according to the scans my ring took, he was here, outside a house she shouldn’t have been, gnawing on this man before she eventually died. This is bad. This is really ####ing bad.”
“A cannibal super villain serial killer?” Johannsson made a note in his pad. “Screw this, I’m calling in the Justice League.”
Guy didn’t say anything until Johansson vanished back toward the street. Black Hand was a monster, a genuinely nasty man with a weapon that could track and absorb massive amounts of energy such as the discharge from a Green Lantern ring. But this? It seemed like Black Hand had taken his villainy to a whole new level.
Gardner pointed his ring up toward the sky. “Well… welcome home, Guy.” He lifted up, toward the “####ng hell.”
“No sign of them,” said John.
John had taken up residence in a booth in the corner of the room and Rex sporadically returned to his old friend’s side with a new round of drinks. Stewart was drinking mineral water, while Rex was holding a bottle of whiskey older than half the heroes in this room.
“Takes fashionably late to a whole new level of rude, don’t you think?” said Rex, sipping his whiskey. “Jeez, the internal elemental acrobatics I have to do to make this taste like it’s supposed to taste aren’t even worth the effort half the time. Not like I can get trashed anyway.”
“Where are these guys based?” asked John.
“There’s a penthouse in Omotesando they hang out in,” said Rex. “You gonna pay them a visit?”
“I think I might,” said John. “You going to keep trying to get drunk or do you want to do some superheroing?”
“Egad I never thought you’d call it that,” said Rex. “I mean, I hear ‘fight the good fight’ coming out of your mouth, but that word? You never hear that from a Yank.”
“Yeah, I thought you’d say that,” said John. “It’s so embraced here; I might as well try to embrace it back. While I’m here.”
“Ha! Good man.” Rex shifted out of his tuxedo and into his orange and purple shirt and black trousers. His mastery over element was second to none, and he looked every bit the hero he was thought of in this country. “C’mon then, Builder. Places to be.”
The two American heroes landed on the roof of Ultra Element Force 5’s apartment. “Should we knock?” asked Rex, grinning.
John cracked a smile but before he could answer, a scream emanated from inside. Rex dissolved the window as he passed through it on instinct, and John followed him inside.
As the two rushed the source of the scream, they were joined by four of the teenagers who made up Ultra Element Force 5-- Kanako, Akifumi, Tomoko and Kyoko. They were in various stages of undress, and looked completely confused by the commotion that had awoken them all.
“Wh-what are you doing in here?” asked Kanako. “You’re-- you’re--”
“We’re sorry we didn’t make it to your party, Metamorpho-san!” said Akifumi. “Please, don’t hurt us!”
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” said Rex. “Where’s Kaori? Where’s Fire Mistress Red?”
The six of them were stood in front of a bedroom door. Akifumi took a breath and nodded quickly. “Through there-- it’s her bedroom--”
John’s ring sent out tendrils of energy and opened the door to the bedroom. Inside, the once beautiful Kaori Nakamura lay dead, her twisted body a charred wreck. Looming over her body was a being who crackled with an unearthly energy. The thing turned toward the six of them, but before it could attack Kyoko sent a spear of twisting light through its chest, pinning it to the wall and killing it instantly.
“What the hell?” asked Rex. “What is that thing? What did we walk into?”
“I’m not sure,” said John. He looked down at Kyoko, who was shaking, her ring-bearing fist still pointed at where the creature would have been if it wasn’t now dead. He placed a hand over her knuckles and lowered it for her. “But I intend to find out.”
NEXT ISSUE: John investigate the death of Kaori Nakamura, the fire-manipulator of Ultra Element Force 5, while Guy tracks down lead after lead in the hopes of locating Black Hand before he kills again. Just how is the murderous villain alive? And what’s behind his deadly change in MO? FIND OUT NEXT MONTH!
Everyone’s had a difficult go of it these last few months--
Physically cut into pieces by the mad Kryptonian scientist XA-DU, GUY GARDNER had to put himself back together using his ring and wits alone to help save a Daxamite colony after they were all exposed to lead! Now the survivors are stuck in the Phantom Zone as the Corps analyse the cure XA-DU provided to cover his escape!
Meanwhile, HANK HENSHAW’s severe PTSD and clinical depression was exacerbated by the machinations of LEX LUTHOR and TERRI HENSHAW, the Green Lantern’s seemingly resurrected ex-wife! HANK was pushed to the very edge of sanity, and at his lowest, he was deemed to lack the willpower to wield a power ring, and was ejected from the Corps!
KYLE RAYNER, under the tutelage of THAAL SINESTRO, was training to utilise the powers inside him that made him the White Lantern, but after he accidentally changed all of reality with one sentence, KYLE willingly let go of all the energy that empowered him and is now completely off the grid, with no one knowing where he ended up!
Welcome back to the ongoing adventures of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS!
NEW YORK CITY:
After a long journey from Earth through space and back again, John Stewart finished up his dinner, washed and dried the dishes, then slumped down in front of the television. He picked up his copy of ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ by Jane Jacobs and-- was about to turn off his television when a news broadcast caught his eye.
John had a habit of having his ring automatically swap through news channels from throughout the world when he was eating, making sure he was plugged into the events of the world from a layman’s perspective. He knew well enough that what the media portrayed wasn’t necessarily the truth, but that’s why he had the ring-- to sift through the half-truths and lies.
The broadcast that caught his eye was from a foreign channel, Japanese apparently, that showed five teenagers standing in exciting poses, lots of colour and light swirling behind them. What had caught John’s attention was the fact that the teenagers had something on their hands-- their fingers-- with odd symbols on their facades. These kids were wielding power rings--!
Emerald subtitles sprang from John’s ring, translating the kanji-- SAVIOURS OF JAPAN--! NEWEST SUPER TEAM SENSATION--! ULTRA ELEMENT FORCE 5--!
“Who are you?” asked John. “And where did you get those rings?”
Issue Sixty-ONE: “Big In Japan”
HoM / ARTTEACH
OA:
“How are you feeling today, Guy?” asked Katma Tui, visiting the medical centre in the Citadel of the Green Lantern Corps where Gardner was currently situated.
Wearing a pair of battered jeans and white t-shirt, Guy shrugged and checked the scars left over from his experience on the Daxamite colony. He was sat on a hospital bed, hard light constructs surrounding him and keeping tabs on his current status.
“Healing up. I’m told the ring is helping with the, uh, deep tissue damage, and with all the doctors focusing their will on me too I’ll be a-okay in no time. Ready for active duty. But who gives a damn about me-- how’re the Daxamites?”
*Green Lantern Corps #57-59
“The serum Xa-Du designed is still being analysed. None of our Lanterns have been able to duplicate the chemical composition yet, so we’re having to be very careful with what we do with it. Green Lantern Saarek has been able to communicate with the survivors in the Phantom Zone-- something about the nature of their non-corporeal forms-- and they’re effectively in stasis. Some were injured by the Kryptonian’s experiments; they were all exposed to lead… it’s trying.”
“How long before we try the serum?” asked Guy.
“Salaak is concerned it might kill them, while Sinestro is coming round to the thinking that the serum is legitimate. Sodam Yat wants to expose himself to lead and try the serum, so we’re keeping him as far away from this as possible. He’s reckless.”
“Brave though,” said Guy. “Went toe-to-toe with a Kryptonian. Most who do don’t end up looking as handsome as he did. Or me.” He thought about it for a moment. “But a test subject… maybe we ask Saarek to ask the Daxamites for a volunteer? To at least try?”
“I’m afraid that’s not your decision to make, Lantern Gardner.” Salaak entered the medical centre to address the two Lanterns. “After what happened to you on the colony, I think it’s best that you go back to Sector 2814 until this situation is concluded. You went through a lot, and--”
“You’re grounding me?” spat Guy. “I’m absolutely fine! I’m healing-- hell, I’m healed, just ask the docs!-- I’m an Honour Lantern, I know what--”
“No,” said Salaak. “Honour Lantern privileges have been revoked for the time being. With Hank Henshaw’s expulsion from the Corps--*”
*Green Lantern Corps #59
“What?!” said Guy. “What happened to Hank?!”
“You weren’t supposed to tell him like this,” said Katma.
“Lantern Gardner needs to hear this,” said Salaak. “From Lantern Sinestro’s report, you behaved rashly, which could have led to dozens of Daxamites dying. You let the situation take control of you, rather than you controlling the situation. An Honour Lantern must be above reproach in all things. Until this situation is remedied, you will return to your duties as a Sector Lantern. What is it you would say in this situation? ‘’Get your head straight’?”
“That’s bullcrap, I knew-- I had--” Guy started, but faltered quickly when everyone started to stare at him. “Right. All right. You saw the ringfeed. You know what happened. That’s fine. I understand. I’ll head back to 2814-- I assume that’s my assignment?”
“Correct,” said Salaak. “I think it best Lantern Tui inform you of Henshaw’s current status. I’m glad you aren’t taking this personally, Gardner.”
“Yeah. Personally. Not me, nope,” said Guy. He stood and his ring generated his Corps uniform. “Katma, could you fly me to the sector boundary and catch me up?”
TOKYO:
“And… action.”
“Action? Just you watch.” Smiling slyly, Kaori Nakamura held out her closed fist, then slowly rolled her ring finger out until the crimson band around it began to glow. An aura began to spread from her ring to her hand, down her wrist and up her arm, until it covered her entire body. The heat mirage surrounded her and then burned brightest white, obscuring her body, until a split second later she was wearing a red and white costume with flame motif running up the side. She clicked her fingers at winked. “Fire Mistress Red, activate!”
Silently spinning micro tornadoes leaped out of Kanako Tanahashi’s ring and engulfed her as she smiled, the whirlwinds swirling around her body until she too was transformed into her superhero self, a grey and white costume with swirling shapes present from her hips to under her arms. When her uniform appeared she pirouetted, bowing toward the camera. “Wind Witch White, present!”
Tomoko Makabe’s ring caused tremors to rumble up from the ground. Mounds of earth, taking on the property of liquid, spread up her legs and covered her entire body until she was totally encased-- a few seconds later the substance shattered and fell away to show her wearing a brown and black super sit, craggy shapes marking her sides. “Earth Stone Master, here!”
Water spilled from inside Akifumi Okada’s ring-- him being the only male member of the team-- and he watched as it took on a life of its own, swirling out and splashing back, covering his body and pooling it down to his feet so that it revealed a costume that was blue and white, waves resembling water at his sides like the others. “Hydro Caster Blue, ready to go!”
Finally, Kyoko Goto raised both of her hands up from her hips, luminescent light throbbing from her fingertips. Energy crashed across her body, and her costume formed, yellow and white, lightning bolts lining her sides and moving down her arms to her wrists. “Ether Void Queen. 1… 2… 3…”
Kaori winked. “…Let’s rock.”
The five members of Ultra Element Force 5 posed dramatically, ready for action, and the director called out “Cut!”
The team powered down, the energy they’d generated fading back into their rings, but their costumes remaining.
“How much more of this is there?” asked Kanako. “I want to go home and shower. The party is tonight.”
“Soon,” said the director. “A few more takes, okay?”
“Don’t worry about it, Kana,” said Kaori. “You get bored, we can always shoot it without you.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” said Kanako. “I can go as long as you. Longer, even.”
“Ladies, please,” said Akifumi. “Some professionalism, please. Ultra Element Force 5 needs to put their--”
“Blah, blah, blah,” said Kaori, interrupting. “Tomoko agrees with me.”
“Tomoko certainly does not,” said Tomoko. “Tomoko-- who, as we all know, hates referring to herself in the third person-- wants to be kept out of these arguments. And would it not make sense for me to say ‘Let’s rock’, at the end?”
Kyoko shook her head. “Please. Let’s get this done. Tonight promises to be a long one. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we get to leave.”
“Why isn’t she the leader?” asked Kanako.
“Kaori is not the leader of this team!” said Akifumi.
Kaori grinned. “Blah. Director-san, we’re ready to go.”
LAPUTA, ISLAND HEADQUARTERS OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE:
“I’m not as up to date on the superhero scene in Japan as you might expect. The culture there is a bit different to what you might expect having grown up here.”
Green Lantern had no idea where to begin when it came to the Japanese superhero scene, so went to the one woman he thought might have some kind of insight. Kimiyo Hoshi, known as Doctor Light, was an active member of the Justice League, and having met her previously in their line of work, he thought she might be the best person to consult on this case so far.
The two of them were sat on a balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean, sipping from mugs of coffee made from a genetically engineered strain Blue Beetle had been tinkering with. It warmed them deeply, and the conversation flowed smoothly between them.
“Heh, growing up, I wasn’t too interested in what went on beyond my neighbourhood,” said John.
“Oh, that’s interesting,” said Kimiyo. “So, what do you know about Japan’s superhero scene?”
“Nothing much,” said John. “Big Science Action were big in the seventies, weren’t they?”
“They still are,” said Kimiyo. “They’re like Japan’s Justice Society. Generational heroes, still led by Takeo Sato-- Sunburst-- after all this time. Thanks to their powersets a lot of these heroes have been kept young, so they never stop. The thing about these teams, these heroes, is that they’re worshipped. You got kids dressing up like them, emulating them, creating their own secret identities. Heck, some even have their own TV shows.”
Kimiyo began to smile, remembering something. “When I was a kid, I used to love watching Sunburst Science Action Hour when I should have been studying. Although my father wasn’t…” She trailed off “…Oh, nevermind. But you say you saw this group, Ultra Element Force 5, on the news? They’re a big deal right now. You know about the Monster War?”
“From the sixties, seventies?” offered John.
“A dimensional tear opened up above the country. Monsters came out. Ultimon and the heroes that eventually became Big Science Action saved Japan. Made them legends. Well, a few months back, the dimensional tear threatened to open again, and it was Ultra Element Force 5 who sealed it shut. Now, apart from that, apart from the newscasts, I have a friend in Tokyo who might be able to help you. He’s really plugged into the scene there nowadays. He’ll be right smack dab in the middle of it tonight.”
“I’d appreciate it, Doctor Hoshi. Any help you can offer would be brilliant,” said John, watching as Hoshi jotted down a name for him.
“So, what’s so special about these guys?” asked Hoshi.
John held up his right hand. “They had power rings.”
“Oh… that could be bad,” said Hoshi. “Is that normal?”
“Not at all. That’s why I’m thrown by this whole thing.”
Doctor Light nodded. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“See, it might be nothing,” said John. “It might be fake-- CGI, for all I know. I don’t want to waste the time of an esteemed member of the Justice League.”
Kimiyo laughed and shook her head. “Sure, that much is obvious. But look, it’s not… what you expect, over there. Just be careful.”
John saluted as he lifted off and began to float off the floor. “Always am, Doctor. Thanks for the consult.”
A PLANET DEEP WITHIN THE FORBIDDEN SECTORS:
“Planet-reactors are active. We have complete control of the situation.”
“The Soul Forge is running at optimum levels.”
“The Immersion Protocol is currently counting down.”
“Supposition-- this will make the lights of the localised space region go out. All energy sources will be drained to zero.”
“We’re prepared for that eventuality. All non-essentials are out in the dark.”
“Essentials are in the control dome.”
“Non-essentials will die. Frozen to death in the resulting spatial distortion. Exploded.”
“Acceptable losses. It begins. Immersion Protocol at three… two… one…”
The entire planet shook and at the heart of the world, where there was once a burning, spinning molten core, there was now a deep pool of black and bronze that flowed and crackled as the indestructible claws descended into its heart.
“Explain the science.”
“Of course. Souls are energy. And it is a matter of cosmic certainty that energy cannot be destroyed. It can only be transferred. Moved.”
“What those in the outside call the afterlife, we can refer to as a staging area. A place where energy awaits transference.”
“The soul forge reaches into the staging area and locates the soul-- the relevant energy-- we require to begin building our agent.”
“Our brothers built the Green Lantern Corps and yet there is still chaos in the universe.”
“That chaos has a name. And an army that grows every single day.”
Klaxons began to blare throughout the control dome. The pincers deep within the Soul Forge began to ratchet up, dragging something back out.
“The First emerges-- and he will build our own army of sentinels to protect the universe.”
SECTOR 0:
“Jesus H Christ! Why am I the last one to hear about this?” asked Gardner, doing a double take after Katma’s words sank in.
“No one wanted to upset you during the healing process,” said Katma. “It looks like Henshaw suffered some kind of mental breakdown. His willpower wavered, his ring left him. John Stewart dealt with it back on Earth.”
“And where is he now?” asked Gardner. “I should… I should talk to him.”
“You’ve both been through hell,” said Katma. “Stewart asked for autonomy to deal with the situation. We’re giving him the benefit of the doubt right now.”
“God…” muttered Guy. “That poor bastard…”
“You went through some stuff with him a few months ago, when Arisia and I saved your backsides? Are you ever going to share the details of what happened?””
*The as-yet incomplete Green Lantern Corps #53-55
“Well… the Saberhagen female that held us captive reached into Hank’s head and shook him up. Said all kinds of things to him, made him… made him doubt, you know? In our trade, that’s the worst. He said he was okay. Said he’d been through worse… but if he had been through worse… and it piles on and on and on, at what point does he break? I just wished… he…” Guy trailed off. “We’re at the edge of the sector. I’ll dip into subluminal and get home in no time. Thanks for taking the time, Katma.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” asked Katma. “Any other questions?”
“Nah. But if you don’t mind… anything that happens with the Daxamites… the Phantom Zone… let me know?”
“Of course,” said Katma. “Stay safe, Guy.”
“Yeah, you too.” Guy nodded and accessed the tunnels that linked every sector the Green Lantern Corps patrolled. He let himself fall inside and then shot through the universe, heading back to Sector 2814, and Earth.
OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN:
It might have been nothing, John knew that. But cargo cult power rings on Earth, in the hands of kids, made him feel uneasy. When he spoke to them, when he found out where the rings came from, he’d feel more comfortable. The journey wouldn’t take much time, and considering Laputa was already floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, his travel time wouldn’t be that long at all.
After two buzzes, a projection of Guy Gardner’s head appeared over John’s ring as he shot across the ocean. “How you doing, Johnny boy?”
“Everything’s fine, just looking into a weird one Earth-side,” replied John. “I heard you’re headed back home?”
“Yeah, I’m in Salaak’s bad books. So you’ve got a problem Earth-side? That’s increasingly rare nowadays. Do you need any back up? I can zero in on your position, come help you out?”
John smiled. “Already itching to get back on the saddle?”
“Ah, being back on sector duty is fine and all, but I’m used to flitting about the universe. After what happened back on that Daxamite colony, I’m lucky I’m not still Oa-bound and on medical lockdown.”
“You’re lucky to have survived,” said John. “I’m not even sure how you did…”
“Have a little faith, man. I know how to put myself back together after getting cut up into little pieces by a mad scientist. Anyway, I’m going to bounce around the sector looking for trouble. Call me if you need anything. In fact, call in regularly, if you can. After being comm-locked and picked apart… Ah, I’m still getting my head on straight.”
“I will do,” said John. Guy’s head didn’t vanish from above John’s ring. “There something else?”
“Where’s Hank, John?” asked Guy. “Katma gave me the cliff notes. But…”
“He’s somewhere safe,” said John. “He went through a lot, and he got burnt out. He needs time to heal.”
“And his ring? I mean, Salaak isn’t going to chase for it, they trust you-- same as me-- but I’m curious, are you slinging with two rings?”
John held up his hands to the projection, showing only his own ring. “Nope. But it’s safe. Like him.”
“Say no more, you know what you’re doing,” said Guy. “Stay safe.”
“And you,” said John. The communication ended, and John picked up speed, skimming across the surface of the sea.
COAST CITY:
Wednesday night, and Martin Dolnick was walking his wife’s dog when he happened upon the homeless man peering through the window of the brownstone. He didn’t live on the street he realised was devoid of any other activity, the street he realised was completely empty apart from the homeless man, his wife’s dog, and himself, but before this moment he always liked the way the trees arched over the road, and it didn’t hurt that the houses were all beautiful. But all that previous enjoyment was sapped out of him. He was alone. And there was this man…
The homeless man pawed at the window with grubby, stained fingers, and Martin could hear him muttering to himself as he tried to look inside the home he’d targeted. “Where… where…”
Martin picked up the pace but his dog barked at the homeless man, who swung his head around at the sudden noise. Martin froze in fear as the man turned his attention to him, his blackened fingers reaching into his hooded jacket as he began to shake. “Oh! Oh, I’m sorry!”
His wife’s dog continued to bark, even as the homeless man began to smile, his yellowed teeth visible between blackened lips.
The homeless man looked ill. His skin was pale to the extent of looking grey and his lips were darker than they had any right to be. Dark black rings circled his eyes and Martin felt his fear transform into terror.
“They… moved…” said the man. He opened his jacket and pulled out a silver rod with a blinking emerald light on the end. “I tracked them… down… and he’s… gone…”
“I’m-- I’m--” Martin backed up. His legs refused to go any faster than the awkward shuffle he was currently demonstrating, but the homeless man wasn’t making immediate moves toward him. The homeless man seemed to almost float toward the street, movements slow, considered, a straight line away from the window.
“Don’t… don’t go,” whispered the man. “I… I need…”
The homeless man raised the rod in his hand up and in fright, Martin accidentally released the leash holding the dog. The small yapping animal rushed toward the homeless man and clawed at his leg. With a dismissive shrug, the man blasted the dog into oblivion with an emerald blast of light, and then shot Martin through the chest, causing him to keel over, gibbering as blood filled his mouth.
“Hal Jordan took… a piece of me… before I died… and I want that piece back...”
The homeless man rubbed his hand across Martin’s mouth, covering his fingers in his victim’s blood. “…So I can finally rest…”
The homeless man grabbed Martin by the hair and dragged him into the alley, into the dark, where he would end his suffering after extending it further than anyone would think possible.
ABOVE TOKYO:
John Stewart hovered over the capital of Japan for hours, until day turned to night, his ring extending an invisible web of sensors over the city as he sought to pull in as much information as possible before tracking down the members of Ultra Element Force 5. He had the name of Doctor Light’s contact in his pocket, but hadn’t bothered to check it out yet. John preferred to do his due diligence first, so that when he was speaking to someone about whatever situation he found himself in, he didn’t look like a complete moron.
“Then again, intel is intel,” John murmured to himself, as he began to take out the piece of paper.
Before he could read the name of the contact, John’s ring buzzed as a figure shot up from the city below, and he vaguely recognised the man who came into focus as he approached. A Green Lantern ring held every language in the known universe, and it would automatically translate John’s voice and those of any in the vicinity. He swallowed, and readied himself.
The figure was one of Japan’s premier heroes, Ultimon, wearing an intricate-- and according to John’s power ring, ancient-- power suit that was a vibrant gold and blue piercing the mid-morning sky. If it wasn’t for the crackle of energy surrounding him, john might have half-thought that Ultimon was part of the beautiful Japanese skyline.
“Green Lantern-san, is there a crisis at hand?” asked Ultimon, his English perfect, albeit heavily-accented. “The dimensional rift--?”
“Everything’s fine, sir,” said Green Lantern. “No crises at the moment.”
Ultimon nodded, his expressionless mask not belying any emotion. “When a western superhero enters our skies, we are quick to think the worst.”
“Though I doubt there’s anything the world could throw your way that you couldn’t handle, Ultimon-san. It was the Ultimon Society that defeated the Colonizers, was it not?”
Ultmon considered the question. “The monsters Scarrba, Kry-Torr and Lorloxx took everything we threw at them, but we survived to see the sun rise another day. You are kind, Green Lantern-san. Can I assist you in any way?”
“I would hate to intrude,” said John, shaking his head. “I’m here out of curiosity more than anything.”
“You are here to speak to Ultra Element Force 5?” offered Ultimon.
“How did you know?” asked John, somewhat taken aback.
“Ring bearing super powers are rare, so correlations are made between heroes here and where you reside,” said Ultimon. “Come, there’s a gathering tonight in honour of one of our greatest heroes. Have you ever been to Roppongi?”
TOKYO, ROPPONGI DISTRICT:
Green Lantern and Ultimon headed down toward the Roppongi district of Tokyo. The bright lights and noise showed it to be a thriving part of the city, and John identified innumerable bars through the area. He’d heard stories from old friends about Roppongi, the party district. Yakuza ran establishments here once, but that unfortunate business had died down a decade or so back.
The two heroes landed on a rooftop garden, filled with other, garishly-clad, superheroes. A number of them nodded in acknowledgement at Ultimon, while others began to whisper in hushed tones when they saw the Green Lantern.
“Green Lantern-san!” A young man with a green Mohawk approached the two new arrivals. “I’m a massive fan! I’ve shaped my whole super persona on you and your fellow Green Lanterns. I am Big Atomic Lantern Boy. I was hoping you might--”
“I’m afraid Green Lantern hasn’t the time for you right now,” said Ultimon, waving Big Atomic Lantern Boy away. John looked back as he was led toward the interior of the building and shrugged at the young man, who slumped over in disappointment.
“…I only wanted to see if you’d speak to Shiny Happy Aquazon for me…” murmured Big Atomic Lantern Boy, as he wandered away.
“You don’t think you were too harsh on the kid?” asked Green Lantern.
“The Super Young Team are unworthy of your time,” said Ultimon. “This new generation of superhero, they’re more interested in the glory, the reward, than the action to undertake such things.”
“Huh,” said Green Lantern. “I’m sure they just need an opportunity to show their worth. Didn’t the Utra Force lot--”
Before Green Lantern could continue, a familiar voice interrupted. “Johnny Stewart?! Is that you, you old jarhead?!”
John did a double take at the man who addressed him so boisterously. He was leaning against the bar in a tuxedo, numerous women surrounding him and smiling. The Green Lantern recognised the man, even after all these years, and even after the accident the man had experienced that left him disfigured.
“Holy crap,” said John. “Ultimon-san, I apologise, but my friend there--”
Ultmon nodded. “The guest of honour.”
John was taken aback. “Huh?”
Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho, slid across the floor and embraced John Stewart. “What the hell are you doing here, Builder?”
“I’m on Green Lantern business, Mason, but my God, I didn’t expect to see you here,” said John, returning the sentiment. “They put this party together for you?”
“Yeah! I split my time between Japan and the US. They love me over here, even with all this,” Rex motioned across his face, the lumpen, elemental material that made up his features twisting into a smile, “I’m a bit of an icon, it’s weird, and weird suits me fine.”
“God. Congratulations, I didn’t… wow. Just, wow,” said John. “Makes a change from our old military days. Less sand.”
“Ha! C’mon,” said Rex, “thanks for bringing my friend, Ultimon-san. You always know how to make a party great!”
Ultimon bowed and then headed into the crowd of heroes, leaving the two old friends to catch up as they entered one of the side rooms.
“You’re here about Ultra Element Force 5, the ring bearers?” said Rex, straight to the point.
“How come everyone knows I was coming?” said John, smiling. “But yeah, I needed to see it with my own two eyes.”
“Yeah, elemental powers mainlined through power rings,” said Rex. “Weird stuff. Kimiyo told me you were coming.”
“She did?” John reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper with the name of Doctor Light’s source-- Rex Mason. “II’ll be.”
“Japan’s superhero scene is more mainstream than America’s. You get hate from the media over there for being different, unless you’re all-American good looking like Superman. Couple of years back, Sapphire had some business interests on this side of the world so I took the opportunity to come over, and they embraced me like nobody’s business.”
“I’m happy for you, Rex, honestly. And this party?”
“I made an impact,” said Rex. “They loved my powers, what I could do, and I played up to it a bit. Hung out with Big Science Action, fought some kaiju with Ultimon. Now, if you want to meet that team of kids, they were given invites. They’re late, of course, but that’s kid these days.”
“Typical,” said John. He put his arm around Rex. “So this is a party, right? Let’s celebrate and see if we can’t get to the bottom of this at the same time.”
“Sounds good to me, man,” said Rex. “Saki on tap, I swear to God.”
COAST CITY:
Gardner landed behind the police cordon, confused by the flurry of activity on the street. The energy signature he’d picked up as he approached Earth was unique, something his ring had never detected before.
When Guy appeared, nobody paid him any heed, more concerned with the crime scene, so as an office moved passed by he touched her on the shoulder to stop her from walking away. “Office, I’m sorry, what’s going on here?”
The woman nearly jumped out of her skin “Huh? Ah! Jeez, Green Lantern? What are you doing here?” she asked. “I didn’t realise we called in a super-person.”
“You didn’t,” said Guy. “I picked up some odd energy signatures, thought I’d look in on this.”
“I can point you in the direction of the lead detective,” said the officer. “Johansson, over there--”
The officer pointed, and Guy thanked her, heading toward the balding, moustached detective stood at the mouth of an alley where the majority of the police were focused. The alley had been obscured by a white tent, and only people wearing pristine-white clean suits were coming and going.
“Green Lantern. Not the one usually seen around here, are ya?” said Johansson. “Dark hair, that one. And a mask?”
“Yeah, he retired. I’m Guy Gardner,” Guy held out his hand and Johansson took it. “I picked up an energy discharge that was weird as ####, so I thought I’d check in.”
“Energy discharge?” Johansson looked back at where the crime scene unit worked away. “I can’t even say. The perp did a hell of a lot of damage. So, you’re out? No secret identity or whatever they call it?”
“Nah,” Guy said, before gesturing toward the alley. “May I?”
“Sure,” said Johansson. “That ring gonna keep my crime scene free of contaminates from ya?”
“Yeah,” said Guy. He floated through the white tent and arrived in a horror show. The walls were painted with blood and the body of a man in his late fifties was spread from one end of the alley to another.
Guy looked around and grit his teeth, knowing full well where they were stood.
“Something familiar to all this?” asked Johansson. “Seen it before?”
“Nothing like this, no,” said Guy. “But I know who used to live there.” He pointed at the brownstone, to his right. The exterior walls were covered in grime and blood. A bloody black hand print sapped sticky to the window.
“Oh? Who’s that then?”
Guy’s gritted teeth twisted into an angry grimace. “An old friend.”
Guy had been here last Christmas*. Hal Jordan and Chloe Sullivan once lived in that brownstone with their daughter Jessica, before moving out when Chloe’s job required her to go into hiding. He could track him down if he needed to, but right now, he knew that involving Hal in whatever was going on would be asking for an emerald fury to rain down on whoever tore this woman to shreds.
*Green Lantern #51
“Can ya give me anything to go on, Gardner?”
Guy pointed his ring at the window and scanned the fingerprints with one strand of light while another began to analyse the blood samples littering the scene. “Fingerprints are being checked through all available databases. Blood too.”
Guy’s ring pinged.
“You gotta be kidding me…” whispered Guy. “There are at least a dozen separate blood samples here. The main one belonging to a Mr Martin Dolnick, who I assume is the victim. The others… match murders trailing all the way from San Francisco to here.” He blinked. “Apart from one. But that can’t be possible…”
“If ya got something, ya need to share it,” said Johansson.
“The energy discharge was a distortion of the type stored in our rings,” said Guy. “And the blood sample that’s thrown me? It belongs to William Hand.”
“I know that name,” said Johansson. “He’s a super ####face, isn’t he?”
“Black Hand,” said Guy Gardner. “I thought he died months ago… but according to the scans my ring took, he was here, outside a house she shouldn’t have been, gnawing on this man before she eventually died. This is bad. This is really ####ing bad.”
“A cannibal super villain serial killer?” Johannsson made a note in his pad. “Screw this, I’m calling in the Justice League.”
Guy didn’t say anything until Johansson vanished back toward the street. Black Hand was a monster, a genuinely nasty man with a weapon that could track and absorb massive amounts of energy such as the discharge from a Green Lantern ring. But this? It seemed like Black Hand had taken his villainy to a whole new level.
Gardner pointed his ring up toward the sky. “Well… welcome home, Guy.” He lifted up, toward the “####ng hell.”
TOKYO, ROPPONGI DISTRICT:
“No sign of them,” said John.
John had taken up residence in a booth in the corner of the room and Rex sporadically returned to his old friend’s side with a new round of drinks. Stewart was drinking mineral water, while Rex was holding a bottle of whiskey older than half the heroes in this room.
“Takes fashionably late to a whole new level of rude, don’t you think?” said Rex, sipping his whiskey. “Jeez, the internal elemental acrobatics I have to do to make this taste like it’s supposed to taste aren’t even worth the effort half the time. Not like I can get trashed anyway.”
“Where are these guys based?” asked John.
“There’s a penthouse in Omotesando they hang out in,” said Rex. “You gonna pay them a visit?”
“I think I might,” said John. “You going to keep trying to get drunk or do you want to do some superheroing?”
“Egad I never thought you’d call it that,” said Rex. “I mean, I hear ‘fight the good fight’ coming out of your mouth, but that word? You never hear that from a Yank.”
“Yeah, I thought you’d say that,” said John. “It’s so embraced here; I might as well try to embrace it back. While I’m here.”
“Ha! Good man.” Rex shifted out of his tuxedo and into his orange and purple shirt and black trousers. His mastery over element was second to none, and he looked every bit the hero he was thought of in this country. “C’mon then, Builder. Places to be.”
TOKYO, OMOTESANDO DISTRICT:
The two American heroes landed on the roof of Ultra Element Force 5’s apartment. “Should we knock?” asked Rex, grinning.
John cracked a smile but before he could answer, a scream emanated from inside. Rex dissolved the window as he passed through it on instinct, and John followed him inside.
As the two rushed the source of the scream, they were joined by four of the teenagers who made up Ultra Element Force 5-- Kanako, Akifumi, Tomoko and Kyoko. They were in various stages of undress, and looked completely confused by the commotion that had awoken them all.
“Wh-what are you doing in here?” asked Kanako. “You’re-- you’re--”
“We’re sorry we didn’t make it to your party, Metamorpho-san!” said Akifumi. “Please, don’t hurt us!”
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” said Rex. “Where’s Kaori? Where’s Fire Mistress Red?”
The six of them were stood in front of a bedroom door. Akifumi took a breath and nodded quickly. “Through there-- it’s her bedroom--”
John’s ring sent out tendrils of energy and opened the door to the bedroom. Inside, the once beautiful Kaori Nakamura lay dead, her twisted body a charred wreck. Looming over her body was a being who crackled with an unearthly energy. The thing turned toward the six of them, but before it could attack Kyoko sent a spear of twisting light through its chest, pinning it to the wall and killing it instantly.
“What the hell?” asked Rex. “What is that thing? What did we walk into?”
“I’m not sure,” said John. He looked down at Kyoko, who was shaking, her ring-bearing fist still pointed at where the creature would have been if it wasn’t now dead. He placed a hand over her knuckles and lowered it for her. “But I intend to find out.”
NEXT ISSUE: John investigate the death of Kaori Nakamura, the fire-manipulator of Ultra Element Force 5, while Guy tracks down lead after lead in the hopes of locating Black Hand before he kills again. Just how is the murderous villain alive? And what’s behind his deadly change in MO? FIND OUT NEXT MONTH!