Liberation #5: "When We Fall"

“I think we’re all going to die,” whispered Katma, dismantling a Manhunter unit with a thought, green tendrils going to work on the abomination and simply taking it apart at the joints. “I think that’s the secret, that we’re all going to die here, far from home, alone.”

“What did you say?” screamed Hank Henshaw as dozens of emerald explosions echoed out of his aura, wrecking destruction against their tormentors. “I can’t hear you! Speak through your ring if you--” A stray blast caught Green Lantern 2814.2, and he grimaced, and redoubled his efforts. He paused his attack for a moment, his shield shimmering, and then, with a loud, booming laugh that rivalled even Kilowog, he went back to work, rising from the trench created by their thoughts, and unleashed his fury against these mechanical monstrosities, smiling as he went.



“Let’s GO!” Kilowog fired off his ring one final time as he and the rest of the reformed Corps headed underground. When the last of them were safely under the spot that had once been home to the Guardians, he sealed their entrance.

“He killed Partoo...” Katma was almost without words. The two of them had been rookies together, earning their badges not only under the tutelage of their mentors, but trained by Kilowog himself. “He must be avenged!”

“He will, just not by us.” The thin walls of the cavern shook from the battle above. “But not by us.” Seeing her still seething with rage, he grabbed her shoulders. “We’re out of our depth.”

“So what do we do?” She jerked away from her former trainer. “What, sit and wait to either live or die?”

“We do what we can.” All the assembled Lanterns turned to the most soft-spoken of them all. Tomar Re looked into his ring and continued. “We pray.”



“Your reign of terror has come to an end.” Ion’s foot blazed an emerald footprint on the Oan soil. Every step he took, another footfall left itself on the ground, and Krona watched as he approached.

“You speak as if I have fallen, boy!” laughed Krona, as he took another step forward. “You speak as if my Manhunters are defeated, as if I lay broken at your feet! I will make you beg for your life. I will wipe you and your precious Corps from the cosmos.”

“No, you won’t,” grinned Kyle, as a construct formed before him, “I. Won’t...” The construct snapped into focus, and a cannon was pulled by a pirate, and an explosion that could be seen from space enveloped Krona, green power and green smoke erupting upwards from where the intergalactic despot had once stood. “…let you.”

“…Ha. Ha.” Krona stepped forward, stripped of his armour, his body seemingly growing. “Ha. Ha.”

Guy Gardner cupped a hand over his eyes, “Is he growing?”

Hal Jordan looked at him. “Is your hand on my shoulder?”

Guy looked at his hand, withdrew it quickly, and repeated his sentiment. “Is he growing?”

“Aww, crap--” Krona stormed forward the young hero, and punched him in the face, his aura bouncing around and protecting him, but still sending Ion hurtling backwards, only to be caught in a combined yellow and green catcher’s mitt.
Guy and Hal flew over to Kyle, who rubbed the back of his head. He was dazed, and the two pilots looked up to see Krona storming forward again, a behemoth of destruction.

“This is going to suck,” grunted Guy, as he braced himself.

“Oh, come on Guy, didn’t your time in basic teach you anything? You don’t have to stand and take the punches thrown at you, you can--” Hal, and Guy carrying Kyle, whipped into the air, “--roll with them!” Krona stumbled to a stop behind them, and the three warriors gained some distance from the monster.

“You cannot run from me, Oan lapdogs!” Krona laughed. “Children, that’s what you are. Children before the power of a god. I should know, I’ve seen forever, and I know what the Green Lantern Corps have done in the past. Horrifying things, things that the so-called Guardians of the Universe deemed necessary. Would you do the same? Would you murder me?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about Krona,” Hal landed in front of the looming figure. “Can’t say I care much.” Balling his ring hand into a bloody fist, he steadied himself, and focused all his will into a singular burst.

Krona didn’t even budge.

“Worthless peons and their toys.” He smiled, and then stretched out his fingers, his arms cracking into position as he moved. He was bigger than ever now, and with each breath, he grew larger.

“What’s he doing, Highball?” asked Guy, as he then proceeded to whisper into his ring, a bead of sweat dripping down his face.

“Showing off? Stretching, I don’t know Guy do I look like I took a course in Krona 101?”

“I can feel his… energy signature… he’s…” Purple tendrils erupted from the ground, latching themselves around the Lantern’s arms and legs, Ion only able to evade due to his expanded senses. “Guy! Hal!”

“Fly, kid!” shouted Guy, as he felt his shoulder dislocated underneath his yellow aura. The tendrils seemed to penetrate their shields, but if he could just get a clear thought…

“Disciples of the toothless Guardians. Destined to fight and die for nothing, championing a cause that has already fallen beneath my heel.”

“You talk too much.” Ion rammed himself into Krona, toppling him again, but this time, he didn’t let up. He knew he had to keep the pressure on, so blow after blow was unleashed, punch after Central Power Battery-enhanced punch, black blood flecking out of Krona’s mouth as his body took the brutal beating. Kyle couldn’t let up, he couldn’t. This fight was bigger than here on Oa. His mind was filled with images of the universe in Krona’s hands; unmitigated suffering stretching all the way into Sector 3600, a trail of blood and tears unseen in all history. Fuelled by his desire to avert this outcome, his pounded harder. Each blow he landed sapped Krona’s entropic energy, returning him to his original size...

He finally stopped. He stood over Krona, triumphant. Ion’s body was covered in alien blood, but he was finally calm, powering down slowly as the powers attacking Hal and Guy subsided as well. Krona lay breathing raggedly beneath him. The fallen Guardian looked up slowly, and could barely be heard. “… Would… you… kill me… boy…? You’re no… Green Lantern…”

“You’re beaten. It’s over.” With those words, he turned his back on the would-be universal conqueror.

“Not quite.” Krona’s hand shot out and grabbed Kyle by the back of the head, twisting violently. Ion fell quietly to the scorched ground of Oa, and Hal and Guy screamed as a cyclone of energy swirled up from inside Kyle’s body. The green maelstrom swirled and exploded, coming to a rest in Krona’s hand, the power of the Central Power Battery literally at his fingertips. Closing his hand slowly, Krona began to laugh once more. “All… I wanted… was the power of the… Battery… truly infinite power… enough to be one with the universe again… and you came here, brought it to me… and… the vessel... a child!”

“He... he killed him…” Guy could barely speak. Hal, finding his uniform smoking away into nothingness, grabbed him by the face. “Wh--?”

“Go, run, find help, but get away. Your ring isn’t tied to the battery! We have a chance, but we’ll need help. LEGION is up there, isn’t it? I could hear Rannian signals, transmissions from Throneworld and beyond, so regroup, get out, and face that sonofabitch with a plan, but you need to get out before Krona realizes that, ok?”

“R-right, God, ok,” Guy nodded, “what about you?”

“I’ll,...” Hal Jordan was almost speechless, gazing at Kyle’s broken body. “I’ll be fine. I’m still Corps, right?”

“You’re an idiot.” Guy then proceeded to shoot into the air, and high into the atmosphere. “Stay alive.”

Krona’s head snapped around, having fully ingested the magnificent power of the Central Power Battery. His eyes, still dancing with madness, locked on to Hal Jordan.

“I’ll do my best,” Hal swallowed.

“Hal Jordan, of Earth. An insignificant bauble far, far away from this place. When I’m done here, stamping out this pathetic Resistance, I will go there. I will delight in the screams and platitudes of your people. They will worship me before I snuff out their wretched existence.” Hal Jordan was left listening to his words, wearing his father’s jacket and a determined expression. “He was your battery, wasn’t he? You fought valiantly; a shame you die here, alone, marooned on a world, abandoned by the Guardians you sought to defend...”

“I am here, alone,” Hal bravely strode toward the nigh-omnipotent force, grabbing a discarded weapon as he walked. “But...I’m not. Dead. Yet.” With each word, he fired the weapon, again and again, plasma bursts uselessly pounding into Krona’s frame. As he approached, he threw the gun to the left, and dove right into the catacombs that lead to the remains of the Guardians’ citadel, scrambling to safety. Krona just laughed.

“Pathetic fool. There is no escape!” His bellowing followed Hal into the tunnels, shaking him to his very core.



Kilowog looked at his ring slinging hand. His stubby fingers were still there. So was his ring. But there was no light. No energy. He was powerless again, just as he had been for an entire year before the Guardian Appa Ali Apsa had located him. “Kyle’s dead.”

“And with him, our rings.” Salaak’s stoic nature betrayed no emotion. “And our only hopes for success.”

“The kid. We brought him here.” Kilowog slumped down against the wall. “To this.”

“Do not fear, Lanterns, for with his death, comes new life.” The powerless Lanterns assembled turned to this new voice, and their eyes opened wide as hope filled them.

“At the end of our first light, when all seemed lost, we bound to the power, and steeled ourselves inside one who could sustain us. One who would allow us to continue empowering our Corps. One who would bring us to this place.”

In the darkness, all the assembled Lanterns turned to the source of the sound, as a dozen pair of glowing eyes greeted them, seemingly peeling back the blackness that had shrouded them. Their small stature belied their obvious power, and their red robes befitted their royal stature.

“Now, freed… let us act truly as Guardians of the Universe.”



Adam Strange missed his wife. As he zeroed in on Krona, throbbing with power, he realised how much he wanted the Zeta Beam inside him to wear off. Shame it never would, considering Sardath had imbued his body with mega-zeta radiation, something that would keep him anchored to his home, without the need for that agonising wait between worlds…

“…I am the universe! You are nothing but atoms before my might!”

Adam didn’t hesitate. For the sake of his family, he couldn’t. “A pissed off atom with a plasma cannon!” He shifted forward, and unleashed the blast, but Krona simply moved out of the way of the blast, as the plasma discharge slowed in mid flight. “Im…possible!”

“ I control everything... and I can see you. You are… full of light. What would happen if I stripped you of that light, Adam Strange of Earth?”

“Light?” Krona opened his hand, and pulled Adam into it by sheer force of will. “No!”

Krona placed his hand over Adam’s chest and smiled. “Radiation. Controlled. Useless.” He tore out the mega-zeta radiation, and Adam instantly began to fade from the battle.

“NO! NO! ALANNA! ALEEA! I LO--”

“Now, to deal with these OTHER annoyances--”

“Bull £$%^, you will.” A yellow boot slammed itself between Krona’s legs, and the despot turned to see Guy Gardner, flanked by a legion of Khund warriors, engineered for battle, never fearing of death. They fired their weapons, and Krona whisked his hand in their direction, thinking to scatter their atoms to the wind. Guy fell to his knee, his ring raised. The Khunds continued to fire. A distraction, whilst, up above…



… Vril Dox was congratulating himself on being a genius. Captain Comet shook his head, and mourned the loss of Adam Strange, but Vril Dox was more potent in his emotion. Because he wouldn’t stop talking. “I knew it. I knew that this was a ridiculous suicide mission, but I knew that I was right. Don’t you see, Blake? Guy Gardner’s ring is from the anti-matter universe! Not this one! So if anything has a chance of stopping that monster it’s that… lumbering… earth… man… oh, Adam, we’re doomed, this is a suicide mission.”

“A good man has fallen in battle, Vril, for once, shut your mouth!” snapped Blake, before returning his thoughts to the battle below.

“Fallen in battle? Peh, Adam Strange has returned to Earth, I think. What am I saying, ‘I think’? I know! I’m a genius. That was zeta-beam radiation taken from him, he’s on Earth, safe and sound.”

“The universe could die at any moment, Vril, where do you think Adam would want to be?”

“…Hhhere?”

“No, with his family. You’re an idiot.”

“I’m a twelfth level intelligence, and right now, we need to figure out how to scramble this monster’s body--”



“Torchbearer…Ion...” A small blue hand was placed upon the chest of the fallen Torchbearer. Rayner was pale, emaciated, all that was within him was now within Krona, and the universe was unravelling. “Kyle… as I am, so too are you needed… one… last… time…” Appa Ali Apsa was worn and withered. He’d stayed outside of the Ion biological power battery, and so whilst his Guardian brothers and sisters had grown more powerful, recharged, regained their youth, he’d been without this safety, this nest, and was suffering for it. Even an immortal feared what came next, when faced with death. “Awaken, Kyle, you are needed. The Power of Ion is needed once more.”



Krona felt energy. He could feel all forms of energy. He could see spectrums beyond any understanding. And he knew them. This is what he had been shorn from. He’d been exiled across the universe, strapped to the upper echelons of reality to be part of this plain of reality forever, but something had pulled him down, and he was only immortal, filled with unimaginable power… not omnipotent. Not omnipresent. He missed his unity with the universe. And so, because the universe had rejected him, he would reject it, burn it, break it, and then… then…

“Having trouble thinking, brother?”

Krona laughed, and saw twelve beings rise up from the ground of Oa. Dressed in scarlet robes, the green insignia of the Green Lantern Corps blazing on their chests, the Guardians of the Universe raised their hands in unison.

“…Is this you stopping me? I mmmmmpossssaaahhhhh!” He fell to his knees, and twenty four globes of energy shot into the Guardians small hands, and then dispersed. “No! I was so close, so close--”

“And yet so far. Where you stand is fitting.” Their hands suddenly clasped together, and a circle was formed around Krona. The ground began to quake, and Krona leapt forward, as he realized what was being brought up through the ground. “It shall do.”

“No, no, you wouldn’t, you couldn’t--”

The Central Power Battery rose up through the ground, and then shuddered to a glorious stop as it soared into the skies above. Krona could see the central portal swirling, all the power of the universe replaced safely. “We would not, no.”

Kyle Rayner shone as bright as a star. His blazing white uniform engulfed his entire body as he stepped forward, and then began to run, and then to fly. “I don’t kill, Krona.”

“I KILLED you!” Ion punched Krona clean across the face, and Hal Jordan, flanked by the rest of the Green Lantern Corp, rose up from where they were hiding, their uniforms reforming, rings flying amongst the battlefield, returning to lost owners, the skies clearing as the two titans battled across the planet.

“And I wouldn’t kill you.” Ion grabbed Krona by his neck, and threw him toward the iris of the Central Power Battery. “And I never would. So instead, here’s the universe’s BEST prison.”

“NO!”

“Solitary confinement for eternity. Full sensory deprivation. For eternity.”

“Hit ‘im again, kid,” whispered Guy Gardner.

“Have a great infinity. Jackass.”

Krona thrashed underneath Ion’s grip, hoping to shift his weight, to topple Ion into the prison awaiting him, but Ion was solid in the air, unmoved by his piston like blows. Unfazed, Ion shook his head, and then pushed Krona inside the Central Power Battery, and watched as it sealed shut. It was done.

Hal watched as Kyle floated down to the assorted Green Lanterns, and sprinted to join them all. “We did it, Kyle, we--” Kyle put up his hand, and that look on his face… “Oh, no.”

“I did what I had to do, Hal. I saved the universe… how cool is that?” He laughed.

“You’re not dead though, Kyle! You’re standin’! And yakkin’! Power down, let’s get a beer!” shouted Guy, even though he knew better than to question these cosmic events as they unfolded. “Let’s get a beer.”

“I wish I could. That was my one last chance. Appa gave me life. But time’s up, and now we both have to move on. But it was a fun ride, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. The Corps is back, isn’t it? And that means the universe is safe, through all that’s coming… and a lot is coming, Hal. And you’ll need all the help you can get. I held the torch. Now you hold the line.” Hal watched as Kyle seemed to fade out of view. “Tell my mom… and tell Donna… I didn’t die a complete idiot.”

“Yeah,” whispered Guy, a wry smile on his face, Kilowog and Katma behind him. “Not a complete idiot.”

And with that, Kyle Rayner whispered away into the winds, a final joke on his lips, and all Oa was still.

The End.

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