Post by HoM on Nov 24, 2015 13:02:16 GMT -5
Previously, in GREEN LANTERN CORPS…
Our heroes have been through hell.HANK HENSHAW finally admitted that the pressures and stress of the last few years have left him damaged, suffering from PTSD and only able to keep going due to the simple fact that if he stopped, he’d break down even further. Now, facing a case from before his time as a Green Lantern, he must face the greatest loss of his life-- the NASA crew that died thanks to LEX LUTHOR’s machinations.
Meanwhile, GUY GARDNER survived vivisection at the hands of the psychopathic Kryptonian surgeon XA-DU thanks to all the ingenuity he could muster and a heavy dose of luck. Thanks to the timely arrival of THAAL SINESTRO and SODAM YAT he now has a chance at surviving the rest of the day-- that is if they’re able to put XA-DU down before he kills them all!
Welcome back to the ongoing adventures of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS!
Guy Gardner clutched his side as two titans clashed above his head. The young Daxamite, Sodam Yat, was trading blows with the mad Kryptonian Xa-Du, and Guy had literally just pulled himself back together after being vivisected by the latter. His willpower was wavering, his constructs were weak at their core, and while he had managed an adrenaline-fuelled escape mere moments before-- thanks to Sinestro and Yat he was able to keep running after said escape-- if the earth-shattering blows kept coming, the floor beneath his feet would fall away and he didn’t know if he could keep breathing if there was no oxygen in the air…
“Focus, Gardner,” said Sinestro, grabbing Guy by the shoulders and pulling him back into the moment. “I don’t know what you’ve been through but it looks like hell. But now you’re here, so stay with me. Stay present.”
“Everything hurts,” said Guy, blinking hard, trying to get the horrors of the last few hours out of his head. “Sorry, sorry, what do we-- what do we do?”
Sinestro was momentarily taken aback by the question. He’d never seen Gardner like this. Guy was a machine. Guy was always ready with a quip and a punch to the face. Guy led the charge, started coming up with the solution when everybody else was still worrying about the problem. That was one of the things Thaal liked about the human. And he didn’t like much of anything.
Sinestro managed to find a smile. “What is it you would say, Guy? We shut this sonofabitch down, right?”
Guy nearly laughed. “Y-yeah, that’s… that’s normally my line…”
“Then say it,” said Sinestro, “and mean it.”
Guy clenched his fist and his ring throbbed. Emerald sparks flew and his protective aura intensified. Even as his joints ached and the segments of his body burned where he’d knitted himself back together, he could find something inside himself. He could find the fire he needed to get this job done. Why else would he be here?
Terri Henshaw stood in front of Hank, a concerned look on her face. The NASA pre-flight barracks were empty apart from the couple, and they were packing up their kit ready for tomorrow’s space flight. Jon and Benji were probably running the final checks that were on their itinerary. Terri would do the rest. Hank finished his work first thing in the morning. You wouldn’t catch him rushing at the last minute. The flight was tomorrow…
…And what a flight. The Excalibur shuttle had been designed for deep space flight, but their greatest concern was the band of unusual cosmic radiation that had recently been detected on the edge of the solar system. Since taking notice, no one in the international space community had the resources to investigate, but with the fire of Terri Henshaw driving them forward, NASA found themselves in prime position to unpick the cosmic radiation’s mysteries. So if the Excalibur and her crew were to make the journey it required a certain disposition in its crew, along with the proper brains behind the shuttle’s design. Again, that fell on Terri’s shoulders, but what shoulders they were.
“Something’s not right here,” said Hank, drumming his fingertips on the wooden bench he’d planted himself on.
Terri sighed. “Is this about the radiation shielding? I thought we’d been over this. The LexCorp funding means we have to use their shielding, and I’m confident that it’ll keep us safe from the cosmic radiation we’ve been tasked with investigating. The Excalibur’s first flight is going to take us successfully through the radiation belt on the outskirts of the solar system, and back again. What a time to be alive!”
Hank nodded slowly, understanding but not entirely convinced. “Lex Luthor… there’s something about him I don’t like.”
“Luthor’s a pig,” said Terri. “But he knows his science. I usually don’t trust folks who work in multiple fields, ‘master-of-none’ and all that, but not only have the brains back at Challengers Mountain done their diligence, I’ve looked through his notes too, and everything looks kosher.”
“Yeah, even without the fact he hit on you in front of me, that’s not… that’s not an issue. I’m confident enough in us to not be fazed by some hotshot businessman who thinks he’s god’s gift to women. It’s just… the bastard had shark eyes, you know? I just… oh, I guess its pre-flight jitters. But the shielding… using LexCorp funding is just… I’m concerned.”
“This argument? Hank.Henry. We’ve had this argument too many times to count now. The fact that you don’t trust my judgement when it’s my area of expertise is infuriating. I know you can’t stand Luthor, but it’s his funding that’s enabled this mission to go ahead.”
“NASA was never about accepting private funding before,” said Hank. “And I don’t trust Luthor as far as I can throw him. I just have this horrible feeling something terrible is going to happen when we go up.”
“Benj has clocked a record number of EVAs, my brother is the best engineer NASA ever poached from MIT. You’re the best pilot that we have and we simply have to complete the work, don’t you understand?”
“Honey, I know how much this means to you, I’m just--”
Terri stroked her husband’s face. “Trust me. I’ve done the work. I’ve had the other scientists vet it. The shielding is up to scratch. This is just another trip into space. Nothing else to it.”
“Okay,” said Hank. “Okay. I trust you.”
“Can Yat keep him occupied?” asked Guy.
“For the time being,” said Thaal. “I’d prefer if we--”
Gardner moved swiftly toward the Phantom Zone projector and began to power it up.
“What are you thinking?” asked Thaal.
“If we can get this device in front of Xa-Du, we can send him back to the Phantom Zone, the Kryptonian prison dimension that he escaped from in the first place.” The projector powered up and a spotlight formed on the wall. Grey and white tendrils swirled as they viewed a hole in space-time. Guy’s eyes widened as he saw something beyond the threshold. “But-- but--“
Guy grabbed Sinestro’s shoulder. “Do you trust me, Thaal?”
“We need to move,” said Sinestro, his ring making the roof above their heads transparent so they could see the two powerhouses battle. Guy nodded and sent a construct through the surface of the Phantom Zone portal, but saw his energy dissipate. He shook his head and look around, grabbing a hose located nearby, wrapping around his waist. “Right. So Yat needs--“ When Sinestro turned, Guy had already leaped into the Phantom Zone, leaving Sinestro alone in the medical centre as a wet splash resounded outward as Gardner vanished from this realm of existence. The hose reeled off madly as the Green Lantern descended into the ghost dimension, then suddenly it stopped--
--And then the hose came loose from its moorings and hurtled toward the Phantom Zone, along with Gardner-- but Sinestro caught it before it entered, and he secured it with a stake construct.
Sinestro couldn’t believe it. Guy Gardner had just dove into the Phantom Zone. He’d leaped into entropy instead of facing the destructive force that was currently wrestling with their fellow Lantern Sodam Yat. The fact astonished him, but he couldn’t let it linger in his mind. Sodam was powerful, sure, but Xa-Du was a medical genius. And, as if to prove Sinestro’s point, overhead Xa-Du drew back his fist and punched Yat squarely in the neck, breaking something that shouldn’t have been broken.
Sodam’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and his ring cut out. He fell to the floor and landed with a crash. Xa-Du looked down at Sinestro and smiled. “Are you next?”
“I was about to ask the same of you,” said Sinestro. Xa-Du moved forward incredibly fast but was caught in a web of emerald light generated by Sinestro. He hadn’t seen it form, but he was entangled. “Your day is done, Kryptonian.”
“Many have said that,” said Xa-Du, as he wrenched his arms out and then down, dragging the energy web down toward Sinestro. “Many have died by my hand.”
“And no more will,” said Sinestro. He leaped into the air, his ring’s powers focused by his iron will, and as his body was covered in dense armour, he grappled with the Kryptonian.
Du laughed as he gripped Thaal’s arm and began to crush the construct, but he cried out when the armour began to sap the yellow sun charge from his cells. “What-- are you-- doing?”
Sinestro allowed himself to smile. His imagination was key here. A suit of armour that could absorb solar radiation. He thought about such a thing, and his ring made it real. He had decided against projecting red sun radiation-- he couldn’t think of the precise wavelength of light he would need, and referencing the Book of Oa was impossible due to whatever Du had done to the atmosphere of this world.
Du swung his arms back and then slammed them together at either side of Sinestro’s head. At the last moment, Thaal’s aura intensified around his skull but the concussive impact still rattled him and his construct faded to all but the defensive default. Du followed up with a series of blows that were targeted with a medical precision thanks to a heavy dose of x-ray vision.
“I am sick of being surrounded by insects!” growled Du. “You fester and swarm, but you are nothing!”
Thaal said nothing. He concentrated on surviving, even as pain wracked his bruised and broken body. He regretted not bombarding the planet from the sector boundary. He regretted not destroying this world while he still had a chance to save the rest of the universe from the threat of this mad Kryptonian.
And Guy Gardner had ran.
0600 rolled round and the same question was asked by the same man who asked it every day.
“Anything?” said Kyle ‘Ace’ Morgan, ground control commander of the secret ‘Excalibur’ shuttle flight. It’d been seven months since the last data burst reached the secret launch base in the converted hangars of Challenger Mountain, once home of the mighty Challengers of the Unknown, a team of adventurers who vanished mysteriously decades ago. Morgan was the lone survivor of the team. Since then he’d worked his way up the ranks of the Air Force, before arriving here, one of the head honchos at NASA.
Seven months since they last heard from the Excalibur. Seven months since the worst probably happened, five months into their mission to explore the cosmic radiation at the edge of the solar system in an experimental space shuttle
“No signal,” said Reid Lewis, one of his main personnel. She removed her headset and turned back to the Colonel. “Sir, I don’t want to sound like this is it…”
“Terri Henshaw is one of the greatest scientific minds we have. If something went wrong up there, they’ll be able to sort it out. We anticipated communication issues. You can’t not when it comes to a mission like this. And you know Jon Runnels can jury-rig an ion drive out of a toaster if needs be. We just have to keep listening.”
“Yessir,” said Reid. She placed the headphones back on and continued to scan the airwaves.
Morgan strolled, hands behind his back, through the control room toward another member of the communication team. He cleared his throat behind Sergeant Steamboat, who jerked to attention in his seat at the arrival of his commanding officer. “Sir?”
“Please link us to Moonbase One, son,” said Morgan.
Kevin Steamboat made a noise of acknowledgement and opened up the link between Challengers Mountain and the US’ secret lunar base. A blonde woman, her hair cut short, appeared on the main viewing screen within Challenger’s mission control room. “Colonel Morgan, this is Colonel Carter. To what do we owe this pleasure?”
“Do you have anything on long range?” said Morgan. “I have to ask, Sam.”
“I’ve got regular sweeps of the solar system going on up here,” said Carter. “We’re due another any minute now.Jones, let’s get started on the deep system scan now, thank you. I’ll-- what--?” There was a commotion behind Sam. “--Wait, what? Say that again--”
There was a tense silence. “What’s going on?” asked Morgan.
Sam looked back into the camera that projected her control room to Earth. “We’ve got something coming up on our radar,” she grimaced, “Kyle, I’m going to have to get back to you. Earth security comes first and there’s protocol to follow. I’ll update you ASAP.” Carter terminated the communication and Morgan stood in silence, surrounded by his staff.
“Sir?” said Steamboat.
“I want all Excalibur support staff on-base by 0900. Everybody.” Morgan found himself crossing his fingers. “I think our crew is coming home.”
Hank Henshaw didn’t need to pull up all the information surrounding the investigation into the disaster experienced by the Excalibur crew. He’d memorised the details in the ten years since he went through it, and if there was some new piece of info uncovered-- not that there ever really was-- he’d add that to his memory palace, as pretentious a term for it as there was, and ensure the full picture was always in his head.
NASA top brass investigated the complete failure of the cosmic ray shielding installed on the Excalibur. Luthor testified in front of a secret senate committee. Discrepancies were found between the design notes provided by LexCorp and the final installed specifications. Blame was levelled on Terri Henshaw herself, and the disaster was labelled as ‘avoidable’ if only they’d listened to Luthor in the first place. And that horrified Hank.
Quietly, Benjamin, Jonathan and Terri were honoured and buried with a fanfare some didn’t think the latter deserved. Instead of burying Terri Henshaw as a hero, they thought she should have been posthumously dishonourably discharged from the air force, but astronauts-turned-monsters were never a good look for the US government.
Lex apologised to everyone involved.
"If he’d been allowed more access, then he’d have been able to prevent the deaths of three heroes," claimed a senior investigator, "Colonel Henshaw shouldn’t have been the sole survivor. This tragedy was avoidable."
From that point forward, the US government paid LexCorp a handsome amount to be a part of NASA operations. If a shuttle went into space, it inevitably had Luthor’s branding somewhere on it. It wasn’t privatisation, but Morgan always told Henshaw it was a ‘surrender’, and he left his role at NASA soon after, returning to the Air Force, away from the corporate grasp of ‘monsters’ like Luthor.
“I don’t care what they say, what their findings are,” said Morgan, “Terri never made mistakes. Luthor sabotaged Excalibur and now they’re repaid him by giving him the keys to the kingdom. I can’t be part of this.”
Henshaw, as quiet as they honoured his dead crew, resigned his commission and retired from the US Air Force a broken man. It took him years to overcome the trauma, to find a place in the world again.
Floating above the world, in geosynchronous orbit above Metropolis, Hank dug into the events of the day. Nothing about the situation felt right. Lex Luthor back in Metropolis, back in control of LexCorp, and somehow doing good in the eyes of the people when everybody in Hank Henshaw’s profession and some scant few beyond knew he was bad news. How Luthor managed to insinuate himself back into the world after being one big bad man for so long eluded Hank, but he was running a long con and it felt like the world at large was falling for it.
Cosmic energy was the name of the game today, and Hank knew it. The burning astronaut was teeming with it, and a signature like that was hard to obfuscate once it manifested. So he was currently floating above the city, using his ring to scan the immediate area for anything that matched what he’s recognised in the burning astronaut. And there was nothing. That couldn’t have been right. The cosmic radiation they were dealing with was insidious. So if someone was masking it, it had to be someone with the immense resources capable of designing the greatest scientific advances on the planet.
“Oh. Designing. Resources. Okay,” said Hank. “Ring, let’s go Big Brother. In my head are the designs for cosmic radiation shielding. Ten years out of date but still ahead of its time. I want you to search every database in the city for the resources required to construct said shielding, or something similar. Extrapolate ten years advancement. Find me my friend.”
The ring in his hand sprang to life, and hundreds of beams of light exploded outward, raining down across Metropolis like someone had filled a cloud full of emeralds.
<Information located,> said the ring. <Extrapolating location of shielding.>
Coordinates filled Henshaw’s head. “Take me there.”
Laying on his side, Sodam Yat’s eyes opened slowly and he could see Sinestro being beaten mercilessly by Xa-Du in the skies above. He tried reaching up but his body didn’t process the command. Something was wrong. He tried to move his leg but he remained still. Something was terribly wrong.
“Your neck is broken,” said a black figure floating cross-legged before him. “On Earth we call it a Cervical Spinal Cord Injury. I can see the damage,” the man floated across Yat’s body and then rolled his finger down the back of the Daxamite’s neck, “Xa-Du fractured your C1, all the way down to your C8 vertebrae. Well. The Daxamite equivalent. Our physiologies are quite similar.”
“Who… are… you?” mumbled Yat, unable to turn to look at the stranger.
“No one will know, not for years to come,” said the black figure, as he moved back into view. His face was obscured by a swirl of darkness, but Yat could hear the smile in the man’s voice. “Now, there are three options. I could put you out of your misery. I could push a blade of energy into your brain stem. You’d die instantly. It would mean finishing the job the mad doctor started.”
“No,” whispered Yat. “Never. What… are the other… two?”
“Not as fun,” said the figure. “I shouldn’t be here.” He looked up at the two titans battling above. “I’ll see you again, Yat. You decide on the shape you’re in.”
There was a swirl of light and the figure vanished, and Yat thought about the man’s words. Maybe he was better off dead. Maybe he should have…
You decide on the shape you’re in?
The Green Lantern power ring could work miracles. It could knit a man back together after he was vivisected. Could it--?
Beads of light began to thread through Sodam’s spine. Slowly, with precision… Yat began to fix the heinous injury inflicted upon his neck. He remembered his father, one of the best doctors in Daxam's capitol of Valora, pushing for his son to become a doctor, to know the ins and outs of the Daxam body... and even though he hadn't spoken to his father for years, he silently thanked him for instilling a knowledge of their physiology in him from a young age. Without it... well, Sodam wouldn't be able to do what he was doing.
Light filling him, Yat quietly growled: “Not… finished… yet…”
Hank wasn’t in Metropolis anymore. His ring had taken him into Nevada state, albeit nowhere near any populated area. That said, Hank could see the tell-tale signs of activity on the surface of the sun-scorched ground below. He scanned the area and it was somehow opaque to his ring. But there was a hatch, large enough for some kind of military transport, obscured poorly-- perhaps hastily-- on the flattest area of the immediate space available.
The hatch began to open, and Hank couldn’t help but feel like he was about to enter a trap. “Ring, contact John Stewart. Upload my memory engrams and send him the data burst.”
<Unable to comply,> answered the ring.
“What do you-- oooop!” Hank’s ring began to carry him down as the hatch finished opening. When Henshaw made his way past that threshold, the doors closed, and the darkness below began to flash open as if motion sensors detected him and answered with illumination.
Below, Lex Luthor stood beaming. “Welcome to LexCorp black site 10,” said Luthor. He had yet to remove himself from his power suit, but he didn’t look like he minded. “I’m surprised it took you this long.” There were no employees around. No scientists or security. Even Team Luthor were absent, and the arrogance radiating off the man in charge was sickening.
“Another one of your secret installations, Luthor?” Unable to control his ring’s descent, Hank resorted to angry dialogue as he forced his willpower into the ring. Answer to me. Answer to me. Answer to me. Nothing seemed to work. The ring wasn’t responding to his commands. Why not?!
“Oh, this one’s on the up and up, as are all my business ventures,” said Lex. “A crack team of scientists are currently studying all manner of mysteries, including a personal favourite of mine-- the cosmic radiation mystery box that your wife is so interested in.”
“Don’t you dare talk about her,” spat Henshaw. He aimed his ring at Luthor. “Take me to Jon Runnels. Tell me everything I want to know about what you did to the crew of the Excalibur. You’re done, Luthor. This time there’ll be no going back for you. I’ll see you hang!”
Luthor tutted. “You shouldn’t make empty threats.” He waved his hand down and Henshaw’s ring went dead and the Green Lantern fell a few feet onto the cold metal floor. The impact was sickeningly loud and Henshaw felt something pop in his hip, the impact sending heavy rivets of vibration up his body. “Now, you’re probably wondering why you can’t get your ring to do what you like around me.”
“What-- what have you done?” asked Hank, trying his best to not show pain, but the agony like razor blades driving into his side doing him no favours.
“I did what I always do when an alien threat makes a move on Metropolis-- on my home-- I studied it,” said Lex. “I… removed… one of your colleagues from the board before. With my bare hands*.” He held out his hands, outstretched. “When one of your more alien compatriots came to seek justice, Metropolis’ own Man of Steel convinced him to spare my life. They conspired to remove the events of that confrontation from my mind**-- but my mind is the most powerful tool I have and I remembered.”
Lex trudged over to Hank and lifted him up. The act shook loose something else in Hank’s leg and he cried out against his will. He knew then that he’d popped his leg out of its socket and that it was flailing loose out of his hip. A piece of meat suspended on pieces of thin string just waiting to get worse.
“Your fellow Green Lanterns wiped my mind, Hank. When I remembered that violation I vowed that none of you would ever have that power over me again. I had a power ring in my possession for a short amount of time but the data we gathered in that short amount of time bore fruit. I can disrupt the flow of energy and information you require to work the ring effectively.”
“You hacked my ring,” said Hank. He hadn’t known that was possible! But if anybody alive could do it-- if anyone could conceive of such a thing-- it would have to be at the hands of Lex Luthor.
Luthor backhanded Henshaw and gum and tooth came loose in the latter’s mouth in a wet spray.
“I hacked your ring,” repeated Luthor. “It is, no matter how advanced, a computer. I found the right signal. Got myself in there and shook things up. No incriminating evidence against my person. And now, no connection between your neural network and the ring’s operating system. You’re just a broken little man.”
Luthor hit Hank again, in the gut, sending the air out of the man’s lungs and ratting a rib loose.
Hank looked up and grimaced. “You-- you--“
With his hand around Henshaw’s throat, Lex began to walk through the facility into an area that held a massive door of a very familiar design.
“Look familiar?” asked Luthor. He squeezed Hank for effect.
“Yes!” gasped Hank. “It’s-- it’s the shielding-- the radiation shielding--“
“And it works perfectly,” said Luthor. “Makes you think, doesn’t it? That maybe I’m not the villain here?”
Hank cursed at Luthor’s words. And then the door opened.
Standing to one side of the room were two men in EVA suits. Blue flames subtly flickered across the surface of one of the men-- Jon Runnels, Hank assumed-- while the other was surrounded by a curious energy field, odd fractures in the space round him like hexagonal pieces of some child’s jigsaw puzzle. The name on the latter’s chest read B. Kirby.
“B-Benj?” whispered Henshaw.
The second astronaut said nothing.
Finally, working behind a massive control stood one of the most beautiful women Hank had ever had the pleasure of knowing. She wore a purple and green containment suit, skint tight and form fitting. From where he dangled, Hank could see Lex blatantly checking her out and he felt anger rise up inside him.
Terri Henshaw-- Hank’s though to be dead wife-- looked healthy, as if she hadn’t aged a day in the decade since her apparent death.
“Hello, darling,” said Terri. “What took you so long?”
“Admit you’re weak,” said Du, punching Sinestro in the side so hard his kidneys ruptured. “Admit you’re nothing.” Another punch, this time breaking the Korugarian’s sternum. “Admit--”
“Sinestro won’t admit shit.”
A boxing glove construct slammed into Du’s jaw, sending him flying back but he was quick to recover and look down at who had attacked him, his Kryptonian eyes blazing with fire.
Guy Gardner emerged from the medical compound, followed by the two Green Lanterns Xa-Du had thrown into the Phantom Zone. One was armless, his limb replaced by a glowing emerald construct. Both of them wore expressions of grim determination, but that wasn’t all. More shapes appeared behind the Green Lanterns, the surviving members of the Daxamite colony, rescued from the Zone and empowered by the yellow sun still high in the sky above their heads.
Xa-Du was suddenly outnumbered, and he knew it.
“I would have saved you from yourselves,” said Xa-Du. “From your weakness.” He shook his head and slipped a hand into his back pocket, taking out a small box. With a smile he removed a vial from inside it then hurtled the container down at the medical compound, the Daxamites keeling over as it passed them, some invisible force striking them at their hearts.
“Protect the Daxamites!” cried out Sinestro. He clutched his head, his constructs flickering over the bodies of the men, women and children they’d been sent to rescue began to cry out in pain.
Guy’s brow furrowed but he and the others sent constructs around the Daxamites, but the damage was done, the colour draining from their flesh as they began to fall to the ground.
“What is that?” asked Guy, surrounding the small box in a sphere of light.
“It must be lead, the weakness of Daxamites,” said Sinestro, “it’s like a poison to them--- once exposed--”
“They die,” whispered Guy. He looked at the dozens of Daxamites he’d led out of the Phantom Zone, and saw that they were all in various stages of the lead poisoning that would eventually kill them. “We can’t-- I can’t--”
Xa-Du smiled and headed off into space. Before he could break atmosphere, a hand gripped his ankle and began to drag him back down. He turned and saw Sodam Yat, his eyes raging behind the emerald aura that had kept him safe from the lead poisoning.
“You’re under arrest.”
“No, I’m not,” said Yat. He held up the sample he had removed from the lead box. “It was all worth it.”
Yat’s eyes opened wide. “A cure?”
Du threw the vial down toward the ground and Yat broke off, racing after the cure to lead poisoning the Kryptonian had created. Du took the opportunity to slip out of sight, vanishing into the depths of space.
Sinestro grabbed the vial in a construct and shook his head. “Use your head, Yat! You have a power ring-- you’re able to multi-task!”
Yat knew that Sinestro was right, but didn’t care. “It’s a cure to the lead poisoning-- we can save them!”
“Are you sure?” said Gardner. “He’s mad. It could have been--”
“It has to be,” said Yat. “These people can’t die because we-- we-- it has to work.”
<Connection to the Book of Oa re-established,> said the rings of the five Green Lanterns present.
The two Lanterns who had been saved from the Phantom Zone by Gardner erected a protective shield around the immediate area, clearly shaken from their experiences in the ghost realm, and Sinestro analysed the serum Xa-Du had thrown down at them. “There are over a dozen unidentified elements in this concoction. The Book of Oa doesn’t recognise half of the chemicals used…”
“Maybe they’re from the Phantom Zone,” said Gardner. “That place… is a complete unknown to us. But the serum-- will it work?”
“There’s no way to know,” said Sinestro. “It’s too risky.”
Sodam looked over at the Daxamites and grimaced. “We have to try.”
“I’m the ranking Lantern here--” said Guy. “--Honour Guard. Thaal, I’ll make the call-- ring, divide this serum into equal doses for each infected Daxamite here.”
“It could be poison,” said Sinestro.
“Either way they’re dead,” said Guy.
“We have one vial of that serum, you’re letting Xa-Du force your hand,” said Thaal. “Ranking or not, we need time to think-- let’s put the Daxamites into the Phantom Zone, and study the serum back on Oa.”
Guy blinked. “I hadn’t… I hadn’t thought…” He turned to Sodam. “Get the projector. Let’s save these people.”
“You must be so happy, Colonel,” said Lex Luthor. “Your crew-- your family-- returned to you, after all this time. Don’t be rude-- say hello, Hank.”
Hank ignored Lex, his eyes locked squarely on his dead wife. “How-- how-- how is this possible?”
Terri considered the question. “Well, the shielding did what it was always designed to do, didn’t it?”
“You died-- I found you dead-- try again,” said Hank. This couldn’t be his wife.
“Manners,” hissed Luthor, tightening his grip around Henshaw’s throat.
“I died but I came back,” said Terri. “And not only that, but I led our brothers back from the brink too.”
“I don’t understand,” said Hank. “Just-- I don’t-- please…”
Terri gestured, and Lex released Hank, the Green Lantern falling to the floor in such a way as to exacerbate his already mangled hip and leg.
“Teresa?” said Luthor, confused as to why she’d made him drop him.
“I want to explain, but maybe it’s easier to show,” said Terri. Her flesh rippled and tendrils began to slip outwards from her skin. She blurred, some kind of other dimensional being slipping out from where it was hiding inside her and forming in the physical realm. Hank struggled to look at her, but he refused to look away, even as the Arachnid Reaction hit him. She was inhuman. She was monstrous. She was something that should never be. Alive, then dead, and alive once more, but returned as something monstrous.
Hank was lifted up by the tendrils that slipped up and out of her being, her eyes now rolled up in the back of her head, her hair shifting colour to pure white as she considered the man she once claimed to love.
“We were sent to investigate a band of newly formed and highly mysterious cosmic radiation,” said Terri, her voice resonating at a frequency that made Hank’s head hurt. “But I knew what it was before we went out there, Hank. I knew because it told me.”
“It told you?” repeated Hank. “How is that possible?”
Terri laughed. Like glass shattering. “Because it wasn’t radiation, it wasn’t scientific in nature-- it was otherworldly. It was sent to change those who reached out and touched it. Me. Now I’m their messenger.”
“And Luthor? What about him?” said Luthor.
“I’ve known Lex Luthor since he first arrived in Metropolis,” she smiled in his direction, “intimately. He’s been very helpful in many of my projects, and I’ve assisted him in some of his. A very useful relationship to maintain.”
“Even with a little shard of something new inside her, Teresa is still the woman who can get things done that others can hardly imagine,” said Lex. “I give her access to any laboratory she likes and she in exchange she provides me scientific advances that I funnel into my own operations. A business partnership, as well as… another kind.”
“And now I’m here-- why-- what’s next, Terri? Are you going to kill me?” said Hank.
“No, no, no,” said Terri. She moved closer, her tentacles licking at the side of the Green Lantern’s face. “I just wanted to see you. It’s been so long, and when I saw you flying around with that ring on your finger, I knew we had to talk.”
“What’s left for us to talk about?” asked Hank. He tensed as she brushed his face with ice cold fingers. As cold and as dead as the grave. “You died. You came back. You’re in league with the devil. Two devils.”
“My new masters aren’t the devil. What they are is beyond your imagination, or anybody else’s. A day will come when I show you, and the world, their nature. But I missed you, Henry. I missed seeing you. Touching you.” Terri smiled. “You could have been there, by my side, throughout it all. But you had to play the hero. You had to try and repair the main reactor.”
“The… the reactor? What do you mean?”
“We had to die to be reborn,” said Terri. She moved closer to him, her lips next to Hank’s ear. “The reactor was supposed to blow, sending us hurtling into the eye of the void. But you fixed the malfunction. I had to separate the shielding from the shuttle, and you were protected from the change*. You took our shells back to Earth. We were buried. Lex found us when we emerged. And now here we are.”
“And your brother? And Benj?” said Hank.
“Reborn as my protectors, gifted with the elemental fury required to ensure our masters plans come to fruition,” said Terri. “But don’t concern yourself with that. Now, I want you to hold up your hand.”
Hank did as he was told, Terri’s words somehow influencing his actions. He held out his ring-wielding hand in front of his face, and his wife smiled. “Wonderful. Always such a good little soldier.”
“What-- are you-- doing?” asked Hank. He tried to put his hand down, but the tentacles flowing across his body, or his proximity to Terri, or maybe just her voice, made him do what he didn’t want to do.
Terri moved her face so that it rested against Hank’s hand. “Oh, that’s nice. I remember when you used to touch me willingly. Without hesitation.”
“You’re not who you were,” said Hank. “You’ve changed.”
“For the better,” insisted Terri. She looked back at Lex. “You can leave now. I have this under control.”
“And you will ensure there is no retaliation on the part of the Green Lantern Corps?” said Luthor. “I’ve experienced their revenge before. I was made to forget, but once I remembered… I will never forget it again.”
“I assure you, this will never come back to haunt you. Hank won’t even remember coming here. And besides, your cache is about to increase. Out of the kindness of your own heart, LexCorp has accepted responsibility for any dangerous xenoform threat that lands in Metropolis, thanks to the explosion ravaging STAR Labs’ facilities-- thanks to my brother. You are the favourite son of Metropolis once more-- “ Terri chuckled then shrugged. “-- well, second favourite.”
Lex smiled sarcastically. “The blacksite will be cleansed once you leave the premises. No trace. It’s always a pleasure doing business with you, Teresa.” He exited, leaving Terri and Hank in the belly of the secret laboratory.
“What-- are you-- going-- to do--?”
“I need one last thing to ensure future of my masters’ plans.” Terri moved her hands over her clothing, and began to unzip the bodysuit she wore. “One last thing from you, my beautiful, bright champion.” She peeled off her clothes and stood naked in front of Henshaw. Whatever it was inside Terri that had overwritten her when she was out there on the edge of space, made her edges ripple. The tentacles began to retract and she nearly looked human, if not for the shapes that crawled beneath her skin, the physical manifestations that had engulfed Henshaw now residing under her flesh. Once she was stripped completely naked, she did the same to Hank, and then… the world… went… liquid…
Hank opened his eyes and didn’t know where he was. His thoughts were heavy and refused to form fully in his head. He groaned as he shifted in his bed so that his feet touched the floor.
“What… happened?” Hank remembered Metropolis, an astronaut who was also fire and chaos. He remembered Lex Luthor and STAR Labs and the villainous multiple man known as Riot. He also remembered trying to figure out just who the astronaut was, but finding nothing. But then what? These past few months were begin to weigh heavier on him than he thought possible, and now he was losing time? What next? What soul numbing torment was coming for Hank Henshaw next?
<Insufficient willpower,> answered his power ring.
Hank blinked. “What?”
The power ring spun off his finger and flitted toward the window. As it hovered there, Hank’s eyes widened as it spoke loud and clear: <Bearer exhibits insufficient willpower to wield Oan power ring effectively. Sector 2814 is manned by two active Green Lanterns-- Sector Lantern 2814.1 / John Stewart / and Sector Lantern 2814.2 / Hank Henshaw / also stationed on reserve is Honour Lantern 2814.1 / Guy Gardner / also present is inactive Honour Lantern 2814.2 / Hal Jordan. According to protocol, recall notice has been sent to Oa for evaluation of current Lantern status. As current bearer does not exhibit sufficient willpower, Sector Lantern 2814.2 is no longer worthy of a power ring.>
Hank blinked. The ring spun once more, then zipped out the window, only to be caught by John Stewart, whose own ring had updated him on everything that Hank had just been told.
“What’s happening, Hank? What happened to you?”
“I-- I don’t--- I don’t know-- “ said Hank, looking at his hands. “I just-- I don’t-- “ He paused. “Oh, God, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t. The ring knows it and I do too. I can’t be a Green Lantern anymore.”
“I knew you were having a bad go of it, but I didn’t think it was this bad, Henshaw,” said John. “I told you, time and again, if you needed help, or someone to talk to, I was here. Why didn’t you--?”
Hank found himself chuckling, despite himself. “John, you’re a jarhead, I’m flyboy. You really think I’d ask for help if I thought I could handle something by myself?” He shook his head. "But…. I can't do this anymore. I thought I could. I thought the ring gave my life meaning, but that's not the way it should be, is it? I should be the one giving the ring meaning, letting my actions define my worthiness of bearing it. I have... Nothing. Nothing apart from it. As long as I wear it, that's all my life will be. Can be.”
“That’s not true-- ” started John, but Henshaw shook his head.
“I need... I need to be better. Get better. I'm running on frayed nerves and instinct and I can feel my spirit just die every single second I'm existing and not dealing with my problems. So, yeah. I need to go away for a while, figure some things out…" He stood and looked around his sparse apartment. There was nothing for him here. A mattress, numerous piles of books. The refrigerator was barely stocked and there was no television, no radio, just a place to sleep and a place that he thought could be something more than it ever became. “…I’ve got nothing.”
"Hank, I know we've only known each other this past year... But..."
Hank ran a hand through his thick, prematurely grey hair and glanced back over at John. "Yeah?"
"I've been through some shit too. Some of my closest friends came out of wars not themselves. Some were changed and needed help finding their way back, or to a middle ground they could exist in. I know a place that has helped them, and might help you. It's not here. It's not on Earth,. but I think it might be able to help you."
"Not on Earth?" Hank contemplated the stars, the astronaut in him feeling a glimmer of hope. "It's not like I have a life here anyway. Where are we headed?”
“Your device worked, human,” said Xa-Du, emerging from the shadows of Lex Luthor’s office. “The Green Lantern Corps were completely cut off from the Book of Oa. They were at my mercy. Of course, that was until they weren’t.”
Luthor contemplated his ally’s words. “I assume you had a bad day, doctor?”
“The work continues,” said Xa-Du. “But I have the genetic data I promised you.” He held out a Kryptonian data crystal and tossed it at Luthor, who snatched it out of the air with ease. “The entire eight billion letter sequence that is the Kryptonian genome.”
“Fascinating,” said Luthor. “I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to record this, Xa-Du.”
“You are a man of science, like me,” said Xa-Du. “Albeit smaller. Less significant. Your canvas is this city, or perhaps this world. Mine is the universe.”
“We are nothing alike,” said Luthor. He pressed a button on his desk and the room was bathed in emerald light. Kryptonite radiation flooding the immediate area.
Xa-Du stood there and watched the light touch his skin. “Oh, human.” He smiled like a cat. “Just because my work continues, does not mean I did not complete the Kryptonite poisoning inoculation. I am the perfect Kryptonian.” His eyes flashed and the Kryptonite lamps across the room were burnt out, leaving Luthor alone, standing before the mad Kryptonian. “I like your heart. I can see it, seventy beats per second. Barely above the norm.” Xa-Du took a step forward, but then hesitated. “I could kill you. But then again…”
“Then why don’t you, doctor?” asked Luthor. There were thirty-seven anti-Kryptonian systems active in his office. Of them, nineteen relied on Kryptonite of various types. The rest of the systems would only weaken their target and needed the Kryptonite to help finish the job. That said, there was only one system that would save Luthor from death at the hands of a rogue Kryptonian without that alien element. It hung around his neck, and he could feel it began to burn against his chest.
“You add variety to the insipid monotony of the universe,” said Xa-Du. “Do not cross me again.” With that, the Kryptonian departed from Lex Luthor’s office, from Metropolis, and from that point… who knew?
Luthor looked at the Kryptonian data crystal on his desk and saw it had been incinerated, leaving only ash. Thankfully, the full spectrum scanners embedded in his walls had mapped the entire library of genome data encoded within it as soon as it entered the room... and that meant that for all Luthor had gained... he had also lost nothing. He smiled, and returned to the task at hand: The downfall of Superman…
NEXT ISSUE: Since being granted the mysterious powers of the White Lantern, Kyle Rayner has had the ability to manipulate reality. But what happens when the universe twists inside out and Kyle finds himself powerless in a reality so very much like his own, but with one stark difference-- there’s no Green Lantern Corps? FIND OUT NEXT MONTH!
Our heroes have been through hell.HANK HENSHAW finally admitted that the pressures and stress of the last few years have left him damaged, suffering from PTSD and only able to keep going due to the simple fact that if he stopped, he’d break down even further. Now, facing a case from before his time as a Green Lantern, he must face the greatest loss of his life-- the NASA crew that died thanks to LEX LUTHOR’s machinations.
Meanwhile, GUY GARDNER survived vivisection at the hands of the psychopathic Kryptonian surgeon XA-DU thanks to all the ingenuity he could muster and a heavy dose of luck. Thanks to the timely arrival of THAAL SINESTRO and SODAM YAT he now has a chance at surviving the rest of the day-- that is if they’re able to put XA-DU down before he kills them all!
Welcome back to the ongoing adventures of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS!
Guy Gardner clutched his side as two titans clashed above his head. The young Daxamite, Sodam Yat, was trading blows with the mad Kryptonian Xa-Du, and Guy had literally just pulled himself back together after being vivisected by the latter. His willpower was wavering, his constructs were weak at their core, and while he had managed an adrenaline-fuelled escape mere moments before-- thanks to Sinestro and Yat he was able to keep running after said escape-- if the earth-shattering blows kept coming, the floor beneath his feet would fall away and he didn’t know if he could keep breathing if there was no oxygen in the air…
“Focus, Gardner,” said Sinestro, grabbing Guy by the shoulders and pulling him back into the moment. “I don’t know what you’ve been through but it looks like hell. But now you’re here, so stay with me. Stay present.”
“Everything hurts,” said Guy, blinking hard, trying to get the horrors of the last few hours out of his head. “Sorry, sorry, what do we-- what do we do?”
Sinestro was momentarily taken aback by the question. He’d never seen Gardner like this. Guy was a machine. Guy was always ready with a quip and a punch to the face. Guy led the charge, started coming up with the solution when everybody else was still worrying about the problem. That was one of the things Thaal liked about the human. And he didn’t like much of anything.
Sinestro managed to find a smile. “What is it you would say, Guy? We shut this sonofabitch down, right?”
Guy nearly laughed. “Y-yeah, that’s… that’s normally my line…”
“Then say it,” said Sinestro, “and mean it.”
Guy clenched his fist and his ring throbbed. Emerald sparks flew and his protective aura intensified. Even as his joints ached and the segments of his body burned where he’d knitted himself back together, he could find something inside himself. He could find the fire he needed to get this job done. Why else would he be here?
Issue Fifty-NINE: “Shatter and Break”
HoM / FLINCHUM
TEN YEARS AGO:
Terri Henshaw stood in front of Hank, a concerned look on her face. The NASA pre-flight barracks were empty apart from the couple, and they were packing up their kit ready for tomorrow’s space flight. Jon and Benji were probably running the final checks that were on their itinerary. Terri would do the rest. Hank finished his work first thing in the morning. You wouldn’t catch him rushing at the last minute. The flight was tomorrow…
…And what a flight. The Excalibur shuttle had been designed for deep space flight, but their greatest concern was the band of unusual cosmic radiation that had recently been detected on the edge of the solar system. Since taking notice, no one in the international space community had the resources to investigate, but with the fire of Terri Henshaw driving them forward, NASA found themselves in prime position to unpick the cosmic radiation’s mysteries. So if the Excalibur and her crew were to make the journey it required a certain disposition in its crew, along with the proper brains behind the shuttle’s design. Again, that fell on Terri’s shoulders, but what shoulders they were.
“Something’s not right here,” said Hank, drumming his fingertips on the wooden bench he’d planted himself on.
Terri sighed. “Is this about the radiation shielding? I thought we’d been over this. The LexCorp funding means we have to use their shielding, and I’m confident that it’ll keep us safe from the cosmic radiation we’ve been tasked with investigating. The Excalibur’s first flight is going to take us successfully through the radiation belt on the outskirts of the solar system, and back again. What a time to be alive!”
Hank nodded slowly, understanding but not entirely convinced. “Lex Luthor… there’s something about him I don’t like.”
“Luthor’s a pig,” said Terri. “But he knows his science. I usually don’t trust folks who work in multiple fields, ‘master-of-none’ and all that, but not only have the brains back at Challengers Mountain done their diligence, I’ve looked through his notes too, and everything looks kosher.”
“Yeah, even without the fact he hit on you in front of me, that’s not… that’s not an issue. I’m confident enough in us to not be fazed by some hotshot businessman who thinks he’s god’s gift to women. It’s just… the bastard had shark eyes, you know? I just… oh, I guess its pre-flight jitters. But the shielding… using LexCorp funding is just… I’m concerned.”
“This argument? Hank.Henry. We’ve had this argument too many times to count now. The fact that you don’t trust my judgement when it’s my area of expertise is infuriating. I know you can’t stand Luthor, but it’s his funding that’s enabled this mission to go ahead.”
“NASA was never about accepting private funding before,” said Hank. “And I don’t trust Luthor as far as I can throw him. I just have this horrible feeling something terrible is going to happen when we go up.”
“Benj has clocked a record number of EVAs, my brother is the best engineer NASA ever poached from MIT. You’re the best pilot that we have and we simply have to complete the work, don’t you understand?”
“Honey, I know how much this means to you, I’m just--”
Terri stroked her husband’s face. “Trust me. I’ve done the work. I’ve had the other scientists vet it. The shielding is up to scratch. This is just another trip into space. Nothing else to it.”
“Okay,” said Hank. “Okay. I trust you.”
SECTOR 1759:
“Can Yat keep him occupied?” asked Guy.
“For the time being,” said Thaal. “I’d prefer if we--”
Gardner moved swiftly toward the Phantom Zone projector and began to power it up.
“What are you thinking?” asked Thaal.
“If we can get this device in front of Xa-Du, we can send him back to the Phantom Zone, the Kryptonian prison dimension that he escaped from in the first place.” The projector powered up and a spotlight formed on the wall. Grey and white tendrils swirled as they viewed a hole in space-time. Guy’s eyes widened as he saw something beyond the threshold. “But-- but--“
Guy grabbed Sinestro’s shoulder. “Do you trust me, Thaal?”
“We need to move,” said Sinestro, his ring making the roof above their heads transparent so they could see the two powerhouses battle. Guy nodded and sent a construct through the surface of the Phantom Zone portal, but saw his energy dissipate. He shook his head and look around, grabbing a hose located nearby, wrapping around his waist. “Right. So Yat needs--“ When Sinestro turned, Guy had already leaped into the Phantom Zone, leaving Sinestro alone in the medical centre as a wet splash resounded outward as Gardner vanished from this realm of existence. The hose reeled off madly as the Green Lantern descended into the ghost dimension, then suddenly it stopped--
--And then the hose came loose from its moorings and hurtled toward the Phantom Zone, along with Gardner-- but Sinestro caught it before it entered, and he secured it with a stake construct.
Sinestro couldn’t believe it. Guy Gardner had just dove into the Phantom Zone. He’d leaped into entropy instead of facing the destructive force that was currently wrestling with their fellow Lantern Sodam Yat. The fact astonished him, but he couldn’t let it linger in his mind. Sodam was powerful, sure, but Xa-Du was a medical genius. And, as if to prove Sinestro’s point, overhead Xa-Du drew back his fist and punched Yat squarely in the neck, breaking something that shouldn’t have been broken.
Sodam’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and his ring cut out. He fell to the floor and landed with a crash. Xa-Du looked down at Sinestro and smiled. “Are you next?”
“I was about to ask the same of you,” said Sinestro. Xa-Du moved forward incredibly fast but was caught in a web of emerald light generated by Sinestro. He hadn’t seen it form, but he was entangled. “Your day is done, Kryptonian.”
“Many have said that,” said Xa-Du, as he wrenched his arms out and then down, dragging the energy web down toward Sinestro. “Many have died by my hand.”
“And no more will,” said Sinestro. He leaped into the air, his ring’s powers focused by his iron will, and as his body was covered in dense armour, he grappled with the Kryptonian.
Du laughed as he gripped Thaal’s arm and began to crush the construct, but he cried out when the armour began to sap the yellow sun charge from his cells. “What-- are you-- doing?”
Sinestro allowed himself to smile. His imagination was key here. A suit of armour that could absorb solar radiation. He thought about such a thing, and his ring made it real. He had decided against projecting red sun radiation-- he couldn’t think of the precise wavelength of light he would need, and referencing the Book of Oa was impossible due to whatever Du had done to the atmosphere of this world.
Du swung his arms back and then slammed them together at either side of Sinestro’s head. At the last moment, Thaal’s aura intensified around his skull but the concussive impact still rattled him and his construct faded to all but the defensive default. Du followed up with a series of blows that were targeted with a medical precision thanks to a heavy dose of x-ray vision.
“I am sick of being surrounded by insects!” growled Du. “You fester and swarm, but you are nothing!”
Thaal said nothing. He concentrated on surviving, even as pain wracked his bruised and broken body. He regretted not bombarding the planet from the sector boundary. He regretted not destroying this world while he still had a chance to save the rest of the universe from the threat of this mad Kryptonian.
And Guy Gardner had ran.
NINE YEARS AGO:
0600 rolled round and the same question was asked by the same man who asked it every day.
“Anything?” said Kyle ‘Ace’ Morgan, ground control commander of the secret ‘Excalibur’ shuttle flight. It’d been seven months since the last data burst reached the secret launch base in the converted hangars of Challenger Mountain, once home of the mighty Challengers of the Unknown, a team of adventurers who vanished mysteriously decades ago. Morgan was the lone survivor of the team. Since then he’d worked his way up the ranks of the Air Force, before arriving here, one of the head honchos at NASA.
Seven months since they last heard from the Excalibur. Seven months since the worst probably happened, five months into their mission to explore the cosmic radiation at the edge of the solar system in an experimental space shuttle
“No signal,” said Reid Lewis, one of his main personnel. She removed her headset and turned back to the Colonel. “Sir, I don’t want to sound like this is it…”
“Terri Henshaw is one of the greatest scientific minds we have. If something went wrong up there, they’ll be able to sort it out. We anticipated communication issues. You can’t not when it comes to a mission like this. And you know Jon Runnels can jury-rig an ion drive out of a toaster if needs be. We just have to keep listening.”
“Yessir,” said Reid. She placed the headphones back on and continued to scan the airwaves.
Morgan strolled, hands behind his back, through the control room toward another member of the communication team. He cleared his throat behind Sergeant Steamboat, who jerked to attention in his seat at the arrival of his commanding officer. “Sir?”
“Please link us to Moonbase One, son,” said Morgan.
Kevin Steamboat made a noise of acknowledgement and opened up the link between Challengers Mountain and the US’ secret lunar base. A blonde woman, her hair cut short, appeared on the main viewing screen within Challenger’s mission control room. “Colonel Morgan, this is Colonel Carter. To what do we owe this pleasure?”
“Do you have anything on long range?” said Morgan. “I have to ask, Sam.”
“I’ve got regular sweeps of the solar system going on up here,” said Carter. “We’re due another any minute now.Jones, let’s get started on the deep system scan now, thank you. I’ll-- what--?” There was a commotion behind Sam. “--Wait, what? Say that again--”
There was a tense silence. “What’s going on?” asked Morgan.
Sam looked back into the camera that projected her control room to Earth. “We’ve got something coming up on our radar,” she grimaced, “Kyle, I’m going to have to get back to you. Earth security comes first and there’s protocol to follow. I’ll update you ASAP.” Carter terminated the communication and Morgan stood in silence, surrounded by his staff.
“Sir?” said Steamboat.
“I want all Excalibur support staff on-base by 0900. Everybody.” Morgan found himself crossing his fingers. “I think our crew is coming home.”
PRESENT DAY; METROPOLIS:
Hank Henshaw didn’t need to pull up all the information surrounding the investigation into the disaster experienced by the Excalibur crew. He’d memorised the details in the ten years since he went through it, and if there was some new piece of info uncovered-- not that there ever really was-- he’d add that to his memory palace, as pretentious a term for it as there was, and ensure the full picture was always in his head.
NASA top brass investigated the complete failure of the cosmic ray shielding installed on the Excalibur. Luthor testified in front of a secret senate committee. Discrepancies were found between the design notes provided by LexCorp and the final installed specifications. Blame was levelled on Terri Henshaw herself, and the disaster was labelled as ‘avoidable’ if only they’d listened to Luthor in the first place. And that horrified Hank.
Quietly, Benjamin, Jonathan and Terri were honoured and buried with a fanfare some didn’t think the latter deserved. Instead of burying Terri Henshaw as a hero, they thought she should have been posthumously dishonourably discharged from the air force, but astronauts-turned-monsters were never a good look for the US government.
Lex apologised to everyone involved.
"If he’d been allowed more access, then he’d have been able to prevent the deaths of three heroes," claimed a senior investigator, "Colonel Henshaw shouldn’t have been the sole survivor. This tragedy was avoidable."
From that point forward, the US government paid LexCorp a handsome amount to be a part of NASA operations. If a shuttle went into space, it inevitably had Luthor’s branding somewhere on it. It wasn’t privatisation, but Morgan always told Henshaw it was a ‘surrender’, and he left his role at NASA soon after, returning to the Air Force, away from the corporate grasp of ‘monsters’ like Luthor.
“I don’t care what they say, what their findings are,” said Morgan, “Terri never made mistakes. Luthor sabotaged Excalibur and now they’re repaid him by giving him the keys to the kingdom. I can’t be part of this.”
Henshaw, as quiet as they honoured his dead crew, resigned his commission and retired from the US Air Force a broken man. It took him years to overcome the trauma, to find a place in the world again.
Floating above the world, in geosynchronous orbit above Metropolis, Hank dug into the events of the day. Nothing about the situation felt right. Lex Luthor back in Metropolis, back in control of LexCorp, and somehow doing good in the eyes of the people when everybody in Hank Henshaw’s profession and some scant few beyond knew he was bad news. How Luthor managed to insinuate himself back into the world after being one big bad man for so long eluded Hank, but he was running a long con and it felt like the world at large was falling for it.
Cosmic energy was the name of the game today, and Hank knew it. The burning astronaut was teeming with it, and a signature like that was hard to obfuscate once it manifested. So he was currently floating above the city, using his ring to scan the immediate area for anything that matched what he’s recognised in the burning astronaut. And there was nothing. That couldn’t have been right. The cosmic radiation they were dealing with was insidious. So if someone was masking it, it had to be someone with the immense resources capable of designing the greatest scientific advances on the planet.
“Oh. Designing. Resources. Okay,” said Hank. “Ring, let’s go Big Brother. In my head are the designs for cosmic radiation shielding. Ten years out of date but still ahead of its time. I want you to search every database in the city for the resources required to construct said shielding, or something similar. Extrapolate ten years advancement. Find me my friend.”
The ring in his hand sprang to life, and hundreds of beams of light exploded outward, raining down across Metropolis like someone had filled a cloud full of emeralds.
<Information located,> said the ring. <Extrapolating location of shielding.>
Coordinates filled Henshaw’s head. “Take me there.”
THE PHANTOM ZONE:
Laying on his side, Sodam Yat’s eyes opened slowly and he could see Sinestro being beaten mercilessly by Xa-Du in the skies above. He tried reaching up but his body didn’t process the command. Something was wrong. He tried to move his leg but he remained still. Something was terribly wrong.
“Your neck is broken,” said a black figure floating cross-legged before him. “On Earth we call it a Cervical Spinal Cord Injury. I can see the damage,” the man floated across Yat’s body and then rolled his finger down the back of the Daxamite’s neck, “Xa-Du fractured your C1, all the way down to your C8 vertebrae. Well. The Daxamite equivalent. Our physiologies are quite similar.”
“Who… are… you?” mumbled Yat, unable to turn to look at the stranger.
“No one will know, not for years to come,” said the black figure, as he moved back into view. His face was obscured by a swirl of darkness, but Yat could hear the smile in the man’s voice. “Now, there are three options. I could put you out of your misery. I could push a blade of energy into your brain stem. You’d die instantly. It would mean finishing the job the mad doctor started.”
“No,” whispered Yat. “Never. What… are the other… two?”
“Not as fun,” said the figure. “I shouldn’t be here.” He looked up at the two titans battling above. “I’ll see you again, Yat. You decide on the shape you’re in.”
There was a swirl of light and the figure vanished, and Yat thought about the man’s words. Maybe he was better off dead. Maybe he should have…
You decide on the shape you’re in?
The Green Lantern power ring could work miracles. It could knit a man back together after he was vivisected. Could it--?
Beads of light began to thread through Sodam’s spine. Slowly, with precision… Yat began to fix the heinous injury inflicted upon his neck. He remembered his father, one of the best doctors in Daxam's capitol of Valora, pushing for his son to become a doctor, to know the ins and outs of the Daxam body... and even though he hadn't spoken to his father for years, he silently thanked him for instilling a knowledge of their physiology in him from a young age. Without it... well, Sodam wouldn't be able to do what he was doing.
Light filling him, Yat quietly growled: “Not… finished… yet…”
SOMEWHERE IN THE NEVADA DESERT:
Hank wasn’t in Metropolis anymore. His ring had taken him into Nevada state, albeit nowhere near any populated area. That said, Hank could see the tell-tale signs of activity on the surface of the sun-scorched ground below. He scanned the area and it was somehow opaque to his ring. But there was a hatch, large enough for some kind of military transport, obscured poorly-- perhaps hastily-- on the flattest area of the immediate space available.
The hatch began to open, and Hank couldn’t help but feel like he was about to enter a trap. “Ring, contact John Stewart. Upload my memory engrams and send him the data burst.”
<Unable to comply,> answered the ring.
“What do you-- oooop!” Hank’s ring began to carry him down as the hatch finished opening. When Henshaw made his way past that threshold, the doors closed, and the darkness below began to flash open as if motion sensors detected him and answered with illumination.
Below, Lex Luthor stood beaming. “Welcome to LexCorp black site 10,” said Luthor. He had yet to remove himself from his power suit, but he didn’t look like he minded. “I’m surprised it took you this long.” There were no employees around. No scientists or security. Even Team Luthor were absent, and the arrogance radiating off the man in charge was sickening.
“Another one of your secret installations, Luthor?” Unable to control his ring’s descent, Hank resorted to angry dialogue as he forced his willpower into the ring. Answer to me. Answer to me. Answer to me. Nothing seemed to work. The ring wasn’t responding to his commands. Why not?!
“Oh, this one’s on the up and up, as are all my business ventures,” said Lex. “A crack team of scientists are currently studying all manner of mysteries, including a personal favourite of mine-- the cosmic radiation mystery box that your wife is so interested in.”
“Don’t you dare talk about her,” spat Henshaw. He aimed his ring at Luthor. “Take me to Jon Runnels. Tell me everything I want to know about what you did to the crew of the Excalibur. You’re done, Luthor. This time there’ll be no going back for you. I’ll see you hang!”
Luthor tutted. “You shouldn’t make empty threats.” He waved his hand down and Henshaw’s ring went dead and the Green Lantern fell a few feet onto the cold metal floor. The impact was sickeningly loud and Henshaw felt something pop in his hip, the impact sending heavy rivets of vibration up his body. “Now, you’re probably wondering why you can’t get your ring to do what you like around me.”
“What-- what have you done?” asked Hank, trying his best to not show pain, but the agony like razor blades driving into his side doing him no favours.
“I did what I always do when an alien threat makes a move on Metropolis-- on my home-- I studied it,” said Lex. “I… removed… one of your colleagues from the board before. With my bare hands*.” He held out his hands, outstretched. “When one of your more alien compatriots came to seek justice, Metropolis’ own Man of Steel convinced him to spare my life. They conspired to remove the events of that confrontation from my mind**-- but my mind is the most powerful tool I have and I remembered.”
*Lex Luthor murdered the Green Lantern Jar Kell in the poorly written Action Comics #2
**Tomar Re removed Lex Luthor’s memories of those events in Action Comics #5
Lex trudged over to Hank and lifted him up. The act shook loose something else in Hank’s leg and he cried out against his will. He knew then that he’d popped his leg out of its socket and that it was flailing loose out of his hip. A piece of meat suspended on pieces of thin string just waiting to get worse.
“Your fellow Green Lanterns wiped my mind, Hank. When I remembered that violation I vowed that none of you would ever have that power over me again. I had a power ring in my possession for a short amount of time but the data we gathered in that short amount of time bore fruit. I can disrupt the flow of energy and information you require to work the ring effectively.”
“You hacked my ring,” said Hank. He hadn’t known that was possible! But if anybody alive could do it-- if anyone could conceive of such a thing-- it would have to be at the hands of Lex Luthor.
Luthor backhanded Henshaw and gum and tooth came loose in the latter’s mouth in a wet spray.
“I hacked your ring,” repeated Luthor. “It is, no matter how advanced, a computer. I found the right signal. Got myself in there and shook things up. No incriminating evidence against my person. And now, no connection between your neural network and the ring’s operating system. You’re just a broken little man.”
Luthor hit Hank again, in the gut, sending the air out of the man’s lungs and ratting a rib loose.
Hank looked up and grimaced. “You-- you--“
With his hand around Henshaw’s throat, Lex began to walk through the facility into an area that held a massive door of a very familiar design.
“Look familiar?” asked Luthor. He squeezed Hank for effect.
“Yes!” gasped Hank. “It’s-- it’s the shielding-- the radiation shielding--“
“And it works perfectly,” said Luthor. “Makes you think, doesn’t it? That maybe I’m not the villain here?”
Hank cursed at Luthor’s words. And then the door opened.
Standing to one side of the room were two men in EVA suits. Blue flames subtly flickered across the surface of one of the men-- Jon Runnels, Hank assumed-- while the other was surrounded by a curious energy field, odd fractures in the space round him like hexagonal pieces of some child’s jigsaw puzzle. The name on the latter’s chest read B. Kirby.
“B-Benj?” whispered Henshaw.
The second astronaut said nothing.
Finally, working behind a massive control stood one of the most beautiful women Hank had ever had the pleasure of knowing. She wore a purple and green containment suit, skint tight and form fitting. From where he dangled, Hank could see Lex blatantly checking her out and he felt anger rise up inside him.
Terri Henshaw-- Hank’s though to be dead wife-- looked healthy, as if she hadn’t aged a day in the decade since her apparent death.
“Hello, darling,” said Terri. “What took you so long?”
SECTOR 1759:
“Admit you’re weak,” said Du, punching Sinestro in the side so hard his kidneys ruptured. “Admit you’re nothing.” Another punch, this time breaking the Korugarian’s sternum. “Admit--”
“Sinestro won’t admit shit.”
A boxing glove construct slammed into Du’s jaw, sending him flying back but he was quick to recover and look down at who had attacked him, his Kryptonian eyes blazing with fire.
Guy Gardner emerged from the medical compound, followed by the two Green Lanterns Xa-Du had thrown into the Phantom Zone. One was armless, his limb replaced by a glowing emerald construct. Both of them wore expressions of grim determination, but that wasn’t all. More shapes appeared behind the Green Lanterns, the surviving members of the Daxamite colony, rescued from the Zone and empowered by the yellow sun still high in the sky above their heads.
Xa-Du was suddenly outnumbered, and he knew it.
“I would have saved you from yourselves,” said Xa-Du. “From your weakness.” He shook his head and slipped a hand into his back pocket, taking out a small box. With a smile he removed a vial from inside it then hurtled the container down at the medical compound, the Daxamites keeling over as it passed them, some invisible force striking them at their hearts.
“Protect the Daxamites!” cried out Sinestro. He clutched his head, his constructs flickering over the bodies of the men, women and children they’d been sent to rescue began to cry out in pain.
Guy’s brow furrowed but he and the others sent constructs around the Daxamites, but the damage was done, the colour draining from their flesh as they began to fall to the ground.
“What is that?” asked Guy, surrounding the small box in a sphere of light.
“It must be lead, the weakness of Daxamites,” said Sinestro, “it’s like a poison to them--- once exposed--”
“They die,” whispered Guy. He looked at the dozens of Daxamites he’d led out of the Phantom Zone, and saw that they were all in various stages of the lead poisoning that would eventually kill them. “We can’t-- I can’t--”
Xa-Du smiled and headed off into space. Before he could break atmosphere, a hand gripped his ankle and began to drag him back down. He turned and saw Sodam Yat, his eyes raging behind the emerald aura that had kept him safe from the lead poisoning.
“You’re under arrest.”
“No, I’m not,” said Yat. He held up the sample he had removed from the lead box. “It was all worth it.”
Yat’s eyes opened wide. “A cure?”
Du threw the vial down toward the ground and Yat broke off, racing after the cure to lead poisoning the Kryptonian had created. Du took the opportunity to slip out of sight, vanishing into the depths of space.
Sinestro grabbed the vial in a construct and shook his head. “Use your head, Yat! You have a power ring-- you’re able to multi-task!”
Yat knew that Sinestro was right, but didn’t care. “It’s a cure to the lead poisoning-- we can save them!”
“Are you sure?” said Gardner. “He’s mad. It could have been--”
“It has to be,” said Yat. “These people can’t die because we-- we-- it has to work.”
<Connection to the Book of Oa re-established,> said the rings of the five Green Lanterns present.
The two Lanterns who had been saved from the Phantom Zone by Gardner erected a protective shield around the immediate area, clearly shaken from their experiences in the ghost realm, and Sinestro analysed the serum Xa-Du had thrown down at them. “There are over a dozen unidentified elements in this concoction. The Book of Oa doesn’t recognise half of the chemicals used…”
“Maybe they’re from the Phantom Zone,” said Gardner. “That place… is a complete unknown to us. But the serum-- will it work?”
“There’s no way to know,” said Sinestro. “It’s too risky.”
Sodam looked over at the Daxamites and grimaced. “We have to try.”
“I’m the ranking Lantern here--” said Guy. “--Honour Guard. Thaal, I’ll make the call-- ring, divide this serum into equal doses for each infected Daxamite here.”
“It could be poison,” said Sinestro.
“Either way they’re dead,” said Guy.
“We have one vial of that serum, you’re letting Xa-Du force your hand,” said Thaal. “Ranking or not, we need time to think-- let’s put the Daxamites into the Phantom Zone, and study the serum back on Oa.”
Guy blinked. “I hadn’t… I hadn’t thought…” He turned to Sodam. “Get the projector. Let’s save these people.”
LEXCORP BLACKSITE TEN:
“You must be so happy, Colonel,” said Lex Luthor. “Your crew-- your family-- returned to you, after all this time. Don’t be rude-- say hello, Hank.”
Hank ignored Lex, his eyes locked squarely on his dead wife. “How-- how-- how is this possible?”
Terri considered the question. “Well, the shielding did what it was always designed to do, didn’t it?”
“You died-- I found you dead-- try again,” said Hank. This couldn’t be his wife.
“Manners,” hissed Luthor, tightening his grip around Henshaw’s throat.
“I died but I came back,” said Terri. “And not only that, but I led our brothers back from the brink too.”
“I don’t understand,” said Hank. “Just-- I don’t-- please…”
Terri gestured, and Lex released Hank, the Green Lantern falling to the floor in such a way as to exacerbate his already mangled hip and leg.
“Teresa?” said Luthor, confused as to why she’d made him drop him.
“I want to explain, but maybe it’s easier to show,” said Terri. Her flesh rippled and tendrils began to slip outwards from her skin. She blurred, some kind of other dimensional being slipping out from where it was hiding inside her and forming in the physical realm. Hank struggled to look at her, but he refused to look away, even as the Arachnid Reaction hit him. She was inhuman. She was monstrous. She was something that should never be. Alive, then dead, and alive once more, but returned as something monstrous.
Hank was lifted up by the tendrils that slipped up and out of her being, her eyes now rolled up in the back of her head, her hair shifting colour to pure white as she considered the man she once claimed to love.
“We were sent to investigate a band of newly formed and highly mysterious cosmic radiation,” said Terri, her voice resonating at a frequency that made Hank’s head hurt. “But I knew what it was before we went out there, Hank. I knew because it told me.”
“It told you?” repeated Hank. “How is that possible?”
Terri laughed. Like glass shattering. “Because it wasn’t radiation, it wasn’t scientific in nature-- it was otherworldly. It was sent to change those who reached out and touched it. Me. Now I’m their messenger.”
“And Luthor? What about him?” said Luthor.
“I’ve known Lex Luthor since he first arrived in Metropolis,” she smiled in his direction, “intimately. He’s been very helpful in many of my projects, and I’ve assisted him in some of his. A very useful relationship to maintain.”
“Even with a little shard of something new inside her, Teresa is still the woman who can get things done that others can hardly imagine,” said Lex. “I give her access to any laboratory she likes and she in exchange she provides me scientific advances that I funnel into my own operations. A business partnership, as well as… another kind.”
“And now I’m here-- why-- what’s next, Terri? Are you going to kill me?” said Hank.
“No, no, no,” said Terri. She moved closer, her tentacles licking at the side of the Green Lantern’s face. “I just wanted to see you. It’s been so long, and when I saw you flying around with that ring on your finger, I knew we had to talk.”
“What’s left for us to talk about?” asked Hank. He tensed as she brushed his face with ice cold fingers. As cold and as dead as the grave. “You died. You came back. You’re in league with the devil. Two devils.”
“My new masters aren’t the devil. What they are is beyond your imagination, or anybody else’s. A day will come when I show you, and the world, their nature. But I missed you, Henry. I missed seeing you. Touching you.” Terri smiled. “You could have been there, by my side, throughout it all. But you had to play the hero. You had to try and repair the main reactor.”
“The… the reactor? What do you mean?”
“We had to die to be reborn,” said Terri. She moved closer to him, her lips next to Hank’s ear. “The reactor was supposed to blow, sending us hurtling into the eye of the void. But you fixed the malfunction. I had to separate the shielding from the shuttle, and you were protected from the change*. You took our shells back to Earth. We were buried. Lex found us when we emerged. And now here we are.”
*A version of these events can be read in Green Lantern Corps #52
“And your brother? And Benj?” said Hank.
“Reborn as my protectors, gifted with the elemental fury required to ensure our masters plans come to fruition,” said Terri. “But don’t concern yourself with that. Now, I want you to hold up your hand.”
Hank did as he was told, Terri’s words somehow influencing his actions. He held out his ring-wielding hand in front of his face, and his wife smiled. “Wonderful. Always such a good little soldier.”
“What-- are you-- doing?” asked Hank. He tried to put his hand down, but the tentacles flowing across his body, or his proximity to Terri, or maybe just her voice, made him do what he didn’t want to do.
Terri moved her face so that it rested against Hank’s hand. “Oh, that’s nice. I remember when you used to touch me willingly. Without hesitation.”
“You’re not who you were,” said Hank. “You’ve changed.”
“For the better,” insisted Terri. She looked back at Lex. “You can leave now. I have this under control.”
“And you will ensure there is no retaliation on the part of the Green Lantern Corps?” said Luthor. “I’ve experienced their revenge before. I was made to forget, but once I remembered… I will never forget it again.”
“I assure you, this will never come back to haunt you. Hank won’t even remember coming here. And besides, your cache is about to increase. Out of the kindness of your own heart, LexCorp has accepted responsibility for any dangerous xenoform threat that lands in Metropolis, thanks to the explosion ravaging STAR Labs’ facilities-- thanks to my brother. You are the favourite son of Metropolis once more-- “ Terri chuckled then shrugged. “-- well, second favourite.”
Lex smiled sarcastically. “The blacksite will be cleansed once you leave the premises. No trace. It’s always a pleasure doing business with you, Teresa.” He exited, leaving Terri and Hank in the belly of the secret laboratory.
“What-- are you-- going-- to do--?”
“I need one last thing to ensure future of my masters’ plans.” Terri moved her hands over her clothing, and began to unzip the bodysuit she wore. “One last thing from you, my beautiful, bright champion.” She peeled off her clothes and stood naked in front of Henshaw. Whatever it was inside Terri that had overwritten her when she was out there on the edge of space, made her edges ripple. The tentacles began to retract and she nearly looked human, if not for the shapes that crawled beneath her skin, the physical manifestations that had engulfed Henshaw now residing under her flesh. Once she was stripped completely naked, she did the same to Hank, and then… the world… went… liquid…
Hank opened his eyes and didn’t know where he was. His thoughts were heavy and refused to form fully in his head. He groaned as he shifted in his bed so that his feet touched the floor.
“What… happened?” Hank remembered Metropolis, an astronaut who was also fire and chaos. He remembered Lex Luthor and STAR Labs and the villainous multiple man known as Riot. He also remembered trying to figure out just who the astronaut was, but finding nothing. But then what? These past few months were begin to weigh heavier on him than he thought possible, and now he was losing time? What next? What soul numbing torment was coming for Hank Henshaw next?
<Insufficient willpower,> answered his power ring.
Hank blinked. “What?”
The power ring spun off his finger and flitted toward the window. As it hovered there, Hank’s eyes widened as it spoke loud and clear: <Bearer exhibits insufficient willpower to wield Oan power ring effectively. Sector 2814 is manned by two active Green Lanterns-- Sector Lantern 2814.1 / John Stewart / and Sector Lantern 2814.2 / Hank Henshaw / also stationed on reserve is Honour Lantern 2814.1 / Guy Gardner / also present is inactive Honour Lantern 2814.2 / Hal Jordan. According to protocol, recall notice has been sent to Oa for evaluation of current Lantern status. As current bearer does not exhibit sufficient willpower, Sector Lantern 2814.2 is no longer worthy of a power ring.>
Hank blinked. The ring spun once more, then zipped out the window, only to be caught by John Stewart, whose own ring had updated him on everything that Hank had just been told.
“What’s happening, Hank? What happened to you?”
“I-- I don’t--- I don’t know-- “ said Hank, looking at his hands. “I just-- I don’t-- “ He paused. “Oh, God, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t. The ring knows it and I do too. I can’t be a Green Lantern anymore.”
“I knew you were having a bad go of it, but I didn’t think it was this bad, Henshaw,” said John. “I told you, time and again, if you needed help, or someone to talk to, I was here. Why didn’t you--?”
Hank found himself chuckling, despite himself. “John, you’re a jarhead, I’m flyboy. You really think I’d ask for help if I thought I could handle something by myself?” He shook his head. "But…. I can't do this anymore. I thought I could. I thought the ring gave my life meaning, but that's not the way it should be, is it? I should be the one giving the ring meaning, letting my actions define my worthiness of bearing it. I have... Nothing. Nothing apart from it. As long as I wear it, that's all my life will be. Can be.”
“That’s not true-- ” started John, but Henshaw shook his head.
“I need... I need to be better. Get better. I'm running on frayed nerves and instinct and I can feel my spirit just die every single second I'm existing and not dealing with my problems. So, yeah. I need to go away for a while, figure some things out…" He stood and looked around his sparse apartment. There was nothing for him here. A mattress, numerous piles of books. The refrigerator was barely stocked and there was no television, no radio, just a place to sleep and a place that he thought could be something more than it ever became. “…I’ve got nothing.”
"Hank, I know we've only known each other this past year... But..."
Hank ran a hand through his thick, prematurely grey hair and glanced back over at John. "Yeah?"
"I've been through some shit too. Some of my closest friends came out of wars not themselves. Some were changed and needed help finding their way back, or to a middle ground they could exist in. I know a place that has helped them, and might help you. It's not here. It's not on Earth,. but I think it might be able to help you."
"Not on Earth?" Hank contemplated the stars, the astronaut in him feeling a glimmer of hope. "It's not like I have a life here anyway. Where are we headed?”
EPILOGUE:
METROPOLIS:
“Your device worked, human,” said Xa-Du, emerging from the shadows of Lex Luthor’s office. “The Green Lantern Corps were completely cut off from the Book of Oa. They were at my mercy. Of course, that was until they weren’t.”
Luthor contemplated his ally’s words. “I assume you had a bad day, doctor?”
“The work continues,” said Xa-Du. “But I have the genetic data I promised you.” He held out a Kryptonian data crystal and tossed it at Luthor, who snatched it out of the air with ease. “The entire eight billion letter sequence that is the Kryptonian genome.”
“Fascinating,” said Luthor. “I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to record this, Xa-Du.”
“You are a man of science, like me,” said Xa-Du. “Albeit smaller. Less significant. Your canvas is this city, or perhaps this world. Mine is the universe.”
“We are nothing alike,” said Luthor. He pressed a button on his desk and the room was bathed in emerald light. Kryptonite radiation flooding the immediate area.
Xa-Du stood there and watched the light touch his skin. “Oh, human.” He smiled like a cat. “Just because my work continues, does not mean I did not complete the Kryptonite poisoning inoculation. I am the perfect Kryptonian.” His eyes flashed and the Kryptonite lamps across the room were burnt out, leaving Luthor alone, standing before the mad Kryptonian. “I like your heart. I can see it, seventy beats per second. Barely above the norm.” Xa-Du took a step forward, but then hesitated. “I could kill you. But then again…”
“Then why don’t you, doctor?” asked Luthor. There were thirty-seven anti-Kryptonian systems active in his office. Of them, nineteen relied on Kryptonite of various types. The rest of the systems would only weaken their target and needed the Kryptonite to help finish the job. That said, there was only one system that would save Luthor from death at the hands of a rogue Kryptonian without that alien element. It hung around his neck, and he could feel it began to burn against his chest.
“You add variety to the insipid monotony of the universe,” said Xa-Du. “Do not cross me again.” With that, the Kryptonian departed from Lex Luthor’s office, from Metropolis, and from that point… who knew?
Luthor looked at the Kryptonian data crystal on his desk and saw it had been incinerated, leaving only ash. Thankfully, the full spectrum scanners embedded in his walls had mapped the entire library of genome data encoded within it as soon as it entered the room... and that meant that for all Luthor had gained... he had also lost nothing. He smiled, and returned to the task at hand: The downfall of Superman…
NEXT ISSUE: Since being granted the mysterious powers of the White Lantern, Kyle Rayner has had the ability to manipulate reality. But what happens when the universe twists inside out and Kyle finds himself powerless in a reality so very much like his own, but with one stark difference-- there’s no Green Lantern Corps? FIND OUT NEXT MONTH!
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