Post by HoM on May 17, 2017 5:48:59 GMT -5
Previously, in GREEN LANTERN CORPS…
In recent days, Sector 2814’s cadre of Green Lanterns failed to prevent a horrific event occurring on Earth-- the entire population of Coast City was annihilated by the cosmic horror known as M’NAGALAH, the evil patron of the villainous BLACK HAND.
In one fail swoop, tens of thousands were dead after experiencing a trauma unlike anything they could have imagined, and the only four left standing were the so-called heroes who couldn’t save them-- GUY GARDNER, HANK HENSHAW, JOHN STEWART and the newly returned KYLE RAYNER.
But the tribulations didn’t end there-- KYLE, who had long been missing after relinquishing the power of the White Lantern, was inducted into the Green Lantern Corps after his beloved girlfriend, ALEX DeWITT accepted the power he had rejected, all to save his life! Now she’s missing amongst the stars, her current location unknown! KYLE reunited with his old mentor, THAAL SINESTRO, to begin the search for his lost love.
HANK underwent a trial of his own, when the mentally compromised CAROL FERRIS-- the sole Star Sapphire created by the beastly PREDATOR entity-- sought to recreate the energy that turned the former astronaut into a vile monster, but thanks to the machinations of the White Lantern-- put in place over a year ago-- HENSHAW resisted and emerged victorious! CAROL was taken into custody by the Star Sapphires, in the hope they could undo the damage done to her fractured psyche.
The comrades have to deal with the trauma of their failure, all the while facing the horrors that await them in the coming months… but before all that, one positive thing might have happened… ALAN SCOTT, the Justice Society of America’s own Green Lantern, has opened his eyes after over a year in a coma… what could that mean for Earth? And what does that mean for the heroes who protect it?
Welcome back to the ongoing adventures of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS!
John Stewart looked at his hand and noted that his power ring was missing. That was fine, he took it off when he slept, for fear of his dreams becoming reality without him meaning them to. He was a disciplined man, and as regimented as his dreams could be, sometimes they were nightmares, and that meant they could climb out of his head and into the world if they brushed up against the imagination-fuelled energies of the Green Lantern ring.
Coast City’s streets were bustling with activity, and people waved at him as he walked on by. They all knew him, they all trusted him, and that was a comforting feeling. He’d heard stories from his father, about how he’d returned from Vietnam and been spat on by waiting crowds at the airport. It was the worst kind of life then, war aside, and John had been lucky enough to avoid that.
Someone brushed up against him and he turned, the woman who’d impacted him apologising profusely. He waved her off, because it was nothing, these things didn’t matter, but when she wasn’t looking, someone brushed up against her, and before his eyes that person merged with the woman. She screamed in shock at this sudden bodily invasion, but it was too late, the man who’d bumped into her was now part of her, his arms jutting out of her torso, their heads an alien mush. They spun awkwardly, like a couple who were taking their first dance lesson, and bumped into a group of tourists, who all began to merge with one another.
John had seen this before in different circumstances. Back when the black sphere surrounded the city, when an intelligence from beyond this dimension tried to enter it, promising to provide infinite, unending life to anything it touched. A cancer god. M’Nagalah.
John reached out, he cried out, but it was all too late-- forever too late--
The tumour-thing that shrieked with ten thousand separate voices lurched toward him, roiling with blinking, tearful eyes, and it was about to engulf him when--
--The sleeping cerulean sun dreamt in celestial silence.
In the distance of those dreams, you could see another star, its surface covered in flames that licked emerald with envy. Thee was an intensity in the dreams that vibrated harshly, fuelled by the kind of enmity that could only be forged with a betrayed brotherhood. The hostility nestled deep in the hearts of the stars were a clear identifier of the war that they had waged for billions of years, and the fact that one was asleep and dreaming and the other awake and scheming suggested that one star had won and the other lost.
The sleeping cerulean sun imagined, in its dreams, that its nemesis dreamt of fire edged with cerulean, biting and snapping at the universal balance they both served, but never encountering the cosmic accelerant both needed to spread they’re burning word-- one sun would devour the galaxy while the other would bring about peace.
If one woke before the other…
If the sleeping cerulean sun was known as order, calm and collected, the awakened emerald sun would be chaos, manic and uncontrollable. Ready to spread if it found the right fuel. If the awakened emerald sun sparked the fuse, then what dreams could keep the sleeping cerulean sun dormant? What would happen if the awakened emerald sun began to spread its tendrils into the heart of every being in the universe… and burned them to cinders?
The sleeping cerulean sun stirred, blue light flared upon its surface, and the dreams continued to flow…
John awoke suddenly, drenched in the kind of sweat that comes with nightmares. “What… was that?”
Beneath the Justice Society of America’s brownstone headquarters in New York City, in a complex built to withstand attacks from the planet’s most dangerous villains, was a state-of-the-art medical facility staffed by some of the keenest minds the profession had to offer.
Over the last year, a veritable super team of super-science and super-medicine experts had come and gone, the likes of Ray Palmer, Niles Caulder, Shay Veritas and many more working in tandem with the in-house doctor Pieter Cross, all to bring Alan Scott, aka the Justice Society’s Green Lantern, out of his coma.
For all intents and purposes, the cranial trauma that had rendered Alan comatose had healed, thanks to the mystical trinket on his finger. Neural pathways repaired in a haze of green, bone knitted back together in a blur of emerald. Any external attempts to assist in the process were rendered useless, the ring taking the lead in its bearer’s healing process.
“Why won’t you wake up…?” pondered Michael Holt, the JSA’s Mister Terrific.
Michael was there when a terrorist attack on the All-Star Academy-- engineered by the deadly Dragon King-- rendered Alan Scott, the JSA’s Green Lantern, into a coma, as a support beam struck the side of his head and left him at death’s door*.
He regretted not being able to do anything to help at that moment, but it was chaos, fire everywhere, the building collapsing around them… that was then, this was now, over a year later…
“If you’re healed, why aren’t you waking up?” asked Holt.
“We both know it’s not as simple as that. Can’t sleep, Michael?”
Doctor Cross entered the room behind his colleague and patted him on the shoulder. He’d tried everything to bring Scott out of the coma, but every conventional means had failed. They were in uncharted territory, and that was the worst place to be in when the life of a friend was in the balance.
Holt shrugged. “You know I don’t much need to. Any changes?”
“Your T-Spheres would let you know before I got a chance to get the words out. But yes, for all intents and purposes, Alan Scott is as healthy as they come. But his mind isn’t coming back to the surface. It really is a wait and see situation. Never before have we had a case like this…”
“Shouldn’t have come to it. He saved our lives, and now he’s paying the price.”
Holt closed his eyes and could see the blaze from nearly a year ago, and within it, Alan Scott limned in his own green, mystical flames.
From where Michael stood, his arms raised to prevent the fire licking at his face, the T-Sphere projected force field keeping the worst of it from him and the others in the room, he could see he firestorm rage all around the Green Lantern, the shock of the events plain in the older man’s face.
A dear friend had died under the control of the Dragon King, and Alan’s hesitation when he saw the C4 vest meant they were in this current situation. Fear, shame and anger bristled across Scott, and his emerald flames mingled with the crackling inferno unleashed upon the All-Star Academy.
Michael called out Alan’s name and the Green Lantern somehow heard-- he was then, just as he responded, caught in a secondary explosion that showered him with debris, much of it splintered wood-- word being the only known substance on Earth able to defeat his ring-- Scott cried out despite himself as he was slashed and burned. A big piece caught him across the side of his head and he went down in a spray of blood, and Holt could do nothing but cry out in shock.
“Dammit, I should have done more,” said Holt, shaking his head as the memory settled inside him.
“There was nothing else you could have done, Michael Holt.”
“What the--?!” gasped Pieter.
The two of them took a step back as, without warning, Alan Scott floated upwards. Emerald flames flowed over his body like the tide coming in The gown he wore went up in emerald flames and replaced by a suit of hard, green armour and a flowing cape, and within seconds he was whole again, stood in front of his two friends, smiling.
“I am awake, at last,” said Alan.
Except, while the voice was his, there was more to it than there every was before. It was an octave lower, his accent sharper, like something new and different was talking through him. There was a light around his eyes that throbbed and flowed with every breath he took, and the two physicians couldn’t help but be on edge
“My God!” said Cross, rushing to the side of the Green Lantern. “Alan, how-- what-- “
“I apologise, Pieter Cross. I have not been clear. I am awake. I am not Alan Scott. Though like him, I have fought side-by-side with the Justice Society of America since its formation. I am the Starheart. And a great threat is rising against us.”
Michael Holt said nothing as his T-Spheres scanned the man he had come to know since his joining the JSA. Instead of neural pathways alight with electrical charges, there was a crackle of visible emerald fire moving through Alan Scott’s brain. The Green Lantern turned his attention to Michael and smiled.
“You are unconvinced?”
“I’m concerned,” said Michael. A mental command sent through his mask to the Justice Society’s communication array alerted everyone to this sudden shift. “You’re saying you’re the Starheart-- the ring on Alan’s finger? Then where’s Alan? You’ve asserted control over Alan’s body, but where’s his consciousness?”
“Alan is at rest. He has been through so much, we thought it best I assume control of his body while his mind heals.” He held up his gauntleted hand and clenched his fist. “
“I want to speak to him,” said Holt. “I need to hear him say this.”
“I just told you that he is healing. To awaken him now would render this body useless, and set back his healing for many months, if not longer. Michael Holt, why do you doubt my word?”
“I’m a pragmatist,” said Michael. “The JSA are on their way, but we need to ensure--”
“It will be good to be united with my comrades-in-arms,” said the Starheart. “But first, we must prepare for the war.” He stood with his arms crossed. “Shall we begin?”
Sinestro lowered his ring and shook his head. “Her trail ends here…and the spatial distortions caused by the border mean we’re not going to pick it back up…”
He floated in front of the invisible boundary between Green Lantern-patrolled space, and the dense galactic region known as the Forbidden Sectors. He’d been trapped in their depths once before*, along with his protégé Kyle Rayner and the daughter of Hal Jordan, Jessica.
That was a long story, and not a period of his life he wanted to relive, considering it involved him dying to get there. But his mind was wandering, and he wanted to get back on track…
“We have to go in after her, then,” said Kyle.
He was itching to go. His aura flickered, as if he was holding himself back. Sinestro was impressed by the singular intention behind Rayner’s protege's actions, but he knew where such intention could lead. Besides, they’d barely caught up, and after that, barely caught their breaths-- there was so much to do, and Rayner felt there was so little time--
As soon as he’d found himself in possession of a Green Lantern power ring*, he’d had one thought on his mind, and that was to locate his girlfriend, Alex DeWitt. This was no ordinary pursuit-- she had become the vessel for the White Light, the infinite energy that had once granted Kyle the powers that made him the White Lantern.
Kyle knew the weight that came with wielding infinite power, and it was that weight that led him to relinquishing it and removing himself from the memories of those who might try and find him-- it was worth a shot, but some bonds go deeper than that, and his closest allies remembered him. They may be reunited now, but the attempt... questions would have to be asked.
“The Forbidden Sectors are forbidden for a reason, Kyle. You may have attempted to remove my memories of you from my mind, but I never forgot-- just like I didn’t forget the lessons I taught you.”
“But if she’s in there, and they’re forbidden for a reason, all the more reason we go in after her!”
Sinestro held up his hand, frustrating rising in his chest. “She wields the White Light, Kyle! You know what that means! She’s infinitely powerful, and with the cosmic awareness that comes with it, she can look after herself!”
“Until her entire personality is burnt out by the power, that is!” countered Kyle.
“As you say. We must have faith in the thought that she might be able to control the power, at least for now. We will find her. And if that means mounting a Corps-wide rescue operation into the Forbidden Sectors… then I will stand by you then as well.”
“You mean…?” started Kyle.
“Maybe it’s time the Forbidden Sectors weren’t forbidden. Maybe it’s--”
Something caught Sinestro’s eye behind Kyle that caused him to fall silent. The look on his face painted a picture for Kyle, but when he turned to see what it was that caused his mentor to stop speaking, nothing he had imagined did the sight justice.
A roiling, seething stellar mass hurtled toward their position. It burned incredibly bright, and for a moment Kyle hoped-- wished-- that it as Alex. But the light wasn’t white, it was a burning, incendiary blue, and as it shot toward them and passed the invisible barrier that the universe knew not to cross unless they wanted to risk their lives-- they travelled as fast as they could so it didn’t hit them.
Sinestro looked at his aura, and saw a cluster of blue flames form where sparks of light from the anomaly had landed. He brushed them off, and then looked to Kyle, who had formed an array of scanning devices in front of him.
“What is that thing?” asked Kyle.
“No clue, but we know where it came from, so it can’t be good,” said Sinestro.
“I’m tracking its trajectory-- oh, of god damn course-- it’s headed for Earth!” said Kyle.
Sinestro cursed and the two of them thought about being caught in the shape’s wake, about travelling with it to its destination, and then they too vanished, moving faster than they could possibly being to imagine!
“I am not Alan Scott, though I know you like he does,” said the Starheart as he stood before the assembled ranks of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Academy students. “Every moment he wore me, I was with him. And I was with you.”
Representing the original Justice Society, Doctor Fate, the Flash, Hawkman and Wildcat were present, along with his children, Jade and Obsidian. Newer members like Captain Marvel and Mister Terrific were stood to the side, taking in the situation. Members of the Young All-Stars, namely Atomika, Jakeem Thunder, Icicle, the Ray and Tigress, were also sat at the meeting table, listening intently to what their ‘returned’ mentor had to say. There were others on the active roster, but they had been out when Alan had awoken. They’d be on their way shortly.
Carter Hall, aka Hawkman, felt his grip tighten around his mace. “Then why isn’t Alan here right now? What have you done with him?”
The Starheart sighed. “I have explained this already. Alan Scott’s mind is still healing. The physical trauma was just the beginning. The psychological trauma was worse. I would have remained dormant, if not for my awareness that something is approaching the world, something that will render all we have built together to ash.”
“I say we take him as his word, guys. You’ve been tryin’ to learn how to trust more, haven’t you?” said Icicle, smiling slickly.
“Now’s probably not the time, Cam,” replied Tigress.
“I’m sorry, but this is a lot to take in,” said the Flash. Jay Garrick removed his hat and placed it on the table in front of him, running a hand through his grey-streaked hair. “We’ve all been hoping and praying that Alan will wake up, but when he does, we get you instead? It’s just… a lot.”
“What Flasher is tryna say is you gotta understand our position,” said Wildcat. “We never heard of this kinda deal before, you bein sentient or whateva. Talk us through it an we’ll see if we can come ta terms with it.”
“I understand, truly I do, but I cannot stand here all day and try to convince you of my truth. There is something coming and we have to prepare. If we do not…”
“Yes, you said,” said James Corrigan, former Spectre, current ghost and bearer of the helm of Doctor Fate. “Now, if we entertain the thought that you’re the sentient ring on Alan’s finger wearing him like he usually wears you; just for one moment, let’s entertain that; what’s coming?”
“Who here knows the origin of this ring?” asked the Starheart, holding up his hand.
Ray Terrill, aka the Ray, cleared his throat. “Alan Scott nearly died in a train crash. There was an emerald battery-- you, or whatever-- and it protected him. He made a ring from the battery and became the Green Lantern.”
Jakeem Thunder tutted and shook his head. “Nerd.”
Ray shrugged. “Read a book.”
“You know the origins of the ring, but not that which the ring is carved from. You see… before time, before space, my brother and I… we fought unimaginable evils. And even now, I can sense that those evils have sought restoration on this plane of existence. Our enemies were abstract, alien concepts… but they were pure evil.”
“I’ve never heard this before,” said Obsidian.
“You don’t think dad was hiding this from us?” whispered Jade.
The Starheart held up his hands. “No, no, Alan never knew my true origin. Regardless, our enemies back then, they referred to themselves as kings but they were terrible, terrible beings. They were the darkness while my brother and I were the light, and we dispelled them after eons spent in battle… during that time, the universe came into being. And the universe… had guardians. Those guardians thought my brother and I were just as bad as the monsters we banished from existence, and for that crime… we were imprisoned. Our energies turned inwards. My brother… he allowed this to happen. He believed that our time had passed…”
“But you didn’t?” said the Flash.
“Correct. But it was too late. My being was transformed celestially, and I became a star. Binary stars in a forbidden sector of the universe. We existed in tandem, until, through sheer force of will, I managed to send a fragment of myself out from my core, out from the sun I had become, and out into the cosmos. The act depleted my consciousness, I was rendered dormant, and in the forbidden sectors, the emerald sun that was once my body dimmed.”
“And now here you are,” said Garrick.
“And now here I am,” repeated the Starheart.
No power. No water. No infrastructure, and worst of all… no survivors.
Hank Henshaw ran his hands through his grey hair. He’d worked around the clock with countless government agencies to try and find any citizens who might have avoided the cancerous amalgamation the M’Nagalah put them through*, but to no avail. Three months had passed. No one left alive.
“You okay there, man?” asked one of the rescue workers, holding out a bottle of water toward the Green Lantern.
“Yeah. Yeah, m’fine,” replied Hank. He accepted the drink and took a sip, wiping his brow of sweat. “Thanks.”
“No worries. I just wanted to say… uh… we know you did what you could, y’know? Uh. It’s not like you stood by and let this happen. So… I guess… it’s not your fault, you know?”
The fall of Coast City. Hundreds of thousands of people dead. A quintet of Green Lanterns standing in the rubble of the scene. No bodies left to bury. Just… horror.
Hank scratched his beard. His skin was still soft from where he’d had to regrow the flesh of his face after Black Hand’s Legion of the Damned caught his friends and him unawares*, but it was normalising quickly enough. He remembered the old Swift quote, ‘I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.’
It did nothing to cheer him up.
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” Hank said finally.
Guy and John had continued fighting the good fight. Gardner was spending more time in Sector 2814, when his Honour Lantern duties would allow, while Stewart continued to work alongside the Justice League. He’d split his time between them and here, doing what he could to restore Coast to its former glory. But what was the point? Nobody would ever want to live here again.
An urgent transmission spiked in via his power ring, and Hank answered immediately, hearing Kyle Rayner’s stream of consciousness as it broke through on all lines: <Boys, we might have a situation forming over here-- we’re currently caught in the slipstream of some kind of-- runaway meteor-- but it’s-- it’s phasing through everything it passes-- stars, planets, everything. It’s headed to Earth, straight from the Forbidden Sectors-- it’s hella weird and we want to create some kind of blockade on the edge of the Milky Way. Can you get up there ASAP? We’re about 60 minutes away!>
“On my way,” said Hank. He handed the water back to the rescue worker, and headed up-- up--
As Henshaw took the skies and eventually vanished from sight, the rescue worked smiled, and headed down an alley. Debris had been cleared, but it was still a mess, and without anyone actually living in the city at the moment—apart from the vagrants who had begun to sneak in in the dead of night—it wasn’t going to get any tidier until the heavy equipment returned to finish its task.
The rescue worker began to whistle to himself, then herself, as his body shifted to reveal her true form.
Terri Henshaw, the woman Hank had once been married to until her apparent death deep in space, chuckled, knowing that the powers she wielded tricked even her beloved husband. She could walk out in the world without fear of discovery, because not even Hank could tell the difference.
She stroked her pregnant belly and made her way back to whence she came…
“I don’t mean to cause offense, but in all my years, in all my vast experience, I’ve never heard of you,” said Corrigan.
“You are touched by the heavens, I can sense that much; you used to be wielded by the Spectre as a host for his vengeful ways. I can see the times we stood united against the forces of evil, before… whatever happened to render you so small.”
Corrigan was unfazed by the slight. “Your point?”
“I am infinite. The Spectre is not. There are degrees of eternity, James Corrigan. And the Presence is a flicker of light caught up by that which my sun casts.”
“Then… then what?” asked Jakeem. He was nervous, flicking the genie-filled pen he’d been gifted by Johnny Thunder around, clicking the button but not summoning his Thunderbolt.
“As my fragment travelled through the cosmos, it amassed enough cosmic debris around it so that I ended up appearing like a meteor, some rock displaced from a place beyond this solar system, but that just meant my light was diminished, not gone. Then two thousand years ago, I fell to Earth. My core was shaped into a lantern by a man known as Chang. Then once I shone my light over dark things, I was hidden away until a mad man by the name of Billings found my new shape and carved it into a train lantern. And then I was found by Alan Scott, who wielded me to become the Green Lantern. That name was cruel cosmic joke, considering it was the Guardians of the Universe, prior to their founding of their Corps, that locked me away in that sun.”
“I can’t just sit here and listen to this!” cried Jade, throwing her arms up into the air as she stood abruptly.
“Jenn, it’s okay…” said Obsidian, reaching out to her in sympathy.
“N-no, it’s not. That’s not dad. That’s not him. It’s… wearing him.”
“As your father used to wear me?” offered the Starheart, extending his hand, once again showing the power ring on his gauntlet-covered finger.
“No, you-- you’re possessing him!”
“…As your father used to possess me?”
Jade shook her head vehemently. “Stop it! Just stop it!”
She stormed out of the room, and Obsidian went after her, leaving the rest of the assembled Justice Society members concerned at how quickly the situation had turned.
Standing off to the side, the spirit form of James Corrigan, who had taken up the vestments of Fate since Kent and Inza Nelson vanished under mysterious circumstances*, looked unsure of what to make of the Starheart’s words. Once, he’d been the host of the Spectre, a catastrophic and single-minded spirit of vengeance, and he when things weren’t right, when things weren’t as they seemed, he cottoned on fast enough. Even when he was alive, when he was a Gotham City police detective, he could tell when something wasn’t right within seconds.
The Starheart cast a glance over at the ethereal man, the only solid parts of him being the golden amulets and trinkets he bore as the current Doctor Fate. “Why do you linger in this realm?”
“Unfinished business,” he replied, slowly.
“I remember when you wielded unlimited power as the Spectre… now you bear the mantle of Fate. I can sense the magic intermingling with your spiritual form. Are you not concerned that staying here, stranding yourself on the earth-realm, might prevent your moving on to the next one?”
“If you were Alan, you’d know that I can’t rest without knowing what happened to my friends. I can’t rest until we find Kent and Inza Nelson.”
Wildcat took a step between the two figures, his hands raised as if breaking up a fight before it could start. “What’s wrong, Starheart? Why’re you lookin at him like that?”
“I am a thing of pure, unrestrained magic; being in the presence of this… malformed thing… bristles against my wider cosmic senses. Its presence distorts the reality around it.”
Corrigan shook his head. “There’s nothing malformed about me, friend. Maybe it’s because you aren’t a real, living thing, you don’t understand how your words could be construed as a threat. You need to take it down a notch or--”
“Enough.”
Starheart had raised a hand, and Corrigan froze in place, like a statue. The vestments of Fate slipped through his spirit form and landed on the carpeted floor with a heavy clunk, spilling out toward the others.
“Wh-- wh-- wh--”
Corrigan couldn’t get the words out, and when the Justice Society tried to move, tried to intervene with whatever was happening, they too found themselves unable to move a muscle. Their jaws were locked tight, their limbs bound by invisible forces, and the only one amongst them that could move was the Starheart itself. To add insult to injury, Jakeem Thunder’s mouth was sealed shut by a muzzle, preventing him from summoning his Thunderbolt.
“Sssstopthisssss,” spat Hawkman, through gritted teeth.
“I tell you that there is something coming that will render the world desolate and you want to talk. All I want to do is save the world. What kind of heroes do you claim to be, when actions are left at the wayside in favour of words? I am so disappointed.”
He looked at Corrigan and shook his head.
“You’re dead. Go wherever it is you deserve to go.”
Passively, the Starheart waved his hand and Corrigan cried out, his face twisting as if he were under an immense amount of pressure. Before anyone could think to say anything else, he simply vanished, potentially moving on to his final reward… while the Starheart drew the vestments of Fate toward himself through the manipulation of subtle energies.
“And these trinkets… that’s what passes for magic in this age? It’ll do.”
The vestments of Fate fell across the Starheart’s body. The amulet clicked into place at the centre of his own armoured sigil, the helm shifted into liquid and lined his neck and the back of his head, but didn’t obscure his face. The cape intertwined with his own, and within moments he had integrated the mystical might of Doctor Fate into his own immense body.
“I wanted to charm you. I wanted to woo you like a lover. But with my awakening, my true awakening, my brother will be here soon. He will sense the presence of my immensity, and I will need to ruin him, devastate him, before he drags me back to the binary stars that held us for so long! I will not lose my foothold here. I will not lose what I have waited for so long!”
Gloria Gardner hadn’t had the best relationship with her brother. He’d always been someone she’d looked up to when they were growing up, because it wasn’t like they had an aspirational figure in their father. Gerrard, their older brother, had always tried defending their dad’s actions. They didn’t understand the pressures of his job, they didn’t understand how much it took out of him to serve and protect the city as a law enforcement officer.
Their dad drank.
Their dad beat their mom.
And when their mom died… dad beat his children twice as hard.
Guy developed a thick skin so the world couldn’t get in. Gloria saw it happen. He grew distant, and when he got the opportunity-- when Gloria left for college-- he left as well, joined the Air Force, and the stories she heard about him, about the trouble he got himself caught up in…
What was it that he’d said three months ago?* “I ain’t him anymore. I’m not the man you knew when I was younger and stupider. I’m not.”
And she believed him. What else did he say? “I want you to know that. I’m not gonna become dad.”
She believed him then, too.
Guy touched down in her back garden, his emerald light dimmed as he knew she didn’t like him drawing attention to himself. His uniform shifted into a shirt and jeans, and he approached her slowly. “Er, sorry I’m late, sis. Things have been… hectic.”
“I know, Guy. Don’t worry about it.”
She twisted the cap off a bottle of beer and handed it to him, then opened her own.
“I gotta admit, I’m surprised you invited me back. I just… well…”
“You’re a god damn idiot is what you are. But you’re my big brother and… and I love you. But we got beers and Donnie’s cooking dinner, so let’s finish these off and I’ll introduce you to my husband. How’s that?”
Guy nodded. She was a spitfire of a woman, just like their ma, and he knew better than to question her. So they sat in silence for a while, drinking, before he turned to her and said, “Donnie? Your husband’s name is Donnie?”
“Donald,” said Gloria, punctuating her point with a punch to his arm.
“Donald, sure, ow, sure. He nice?”
“Of course he’s nice.”
“Then why you hiding him inside? Why’d he not come out and introduce himself?”
“Because I wanted to know if you were going to be a jerk! And now--”
Guy’s ring throbbed and he held his hand up to cut the conversation short. “Sorry, sis. I gotta take this.”
Glory took a swig of her beer and motioned for him to hurry up.
<Boys, we might have a situation forming over here-- we’re currently caught in the slipstream of some kind of-- runaway meteor-- but it’s-- it’s phasing through everything it passes-- stars, planets, everything. It’s headed to Earth, straight from the Forbidden Sectors-- it’s hella weird and we want to create some kind of blockade on the edge of the Milky Way. Can you get up there ASAP? We’re about 60 minutes away!>
“Is this what it’s like?” asked Gloria, once the transmission ended.
“Yeah. Pretty much. On call 24/7/365. Longer if you’re up out there,” he said, gesturing to the sky.
“That’s not how time works, Guy,” she replied.
“Well, yeah, I know that. I’m not stoopid. It makes… everything a bit harder. But the results are worth it.”
“So you gotta go.”
“Yeah,” said Guy, beginning to lift off.
“But… Guy… all this… everything you do… are you happy?”
Guy hovered in place for a moment. “…Happy?”
“Yeah, you, like, fly around space all the time, and that’s great, but if you’re always on--”
“I mean, I take shore leave, so…”
“And you’re telling me you’re off then? That if there’s an emergency you won’t dive head first into it? I’m not… I’m not sniping or anything, it’s just… I’m happy. I want you to be happy too.”
Guy went to say something, but then didn’t know what he could say. He exhaled, smiled, then said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, but don’t wait up. I’ll pop over tomorrow if that’s all right?”
“Yeah, of course. I’ve got the week off, and Donnie and I… well, come over when you can. Call ahead!”
Guy waved and then continued his flight. “Will do!”
But her question rang in her ears… because he didn’t know the answer.
The Starheart paced the floor of the meeting room, paying little attention to the group of heroes he’d captured. He was lost in thought, rambling, a physical body something so new to him, yet so familiar.
“I can hear him coming… my awakening must have stirred him… so something must be done… something drastic…”
Captain Marvel strained against the invisible restraints that held him and the others fast, and using his immense will, was able to speak. “Sssssstop this, Starheart… you can’t not see that this is wrong…”
“I decide what is right and wrong now, young man. I have lived longer than any of you can possibly imagine. I was here before the dawn of creation, and I will be here when creation ends!”
“You… you killed our friend…” growled Hawkman.
“I dismissed a wayward spirit, Carter. Why can’t you see that? Why can’t any of you see that I mean well?”
“Actions… speak louder… than words…” said Captain Marvel.
“My words can be louder than anything you’ve heard before. Loud enough to pierce dimensions. Loud enough to draw down thunder,” said the Starheart.
Captain Marvel realised what was being said, but could do nothing--
“How’s this for a word? How’s ‘SHAZAM!’?”
Thunder cracked down on the spot where Captain Marvel was held in space and he vanished in a haze of smoke. Instead of leaving the diminutive form of Billy Batson behind, there was a patch of charred wood, and silence.
Lighting rustled across the Starheart’s body. He’d somehow absorbed more power. More magical might. He looked at Jakeem Thunder and smiled. “You’re not even supposed to be here.” He looked over at Mister Terrific. “And neither… should you.”
“Keep-- away-- from-- him!”
The Flash had managed to vibrate himself out of the restraints, too late to save Corrigan or Marvel, but in time to throw himself into the Starheart, hoping to knock him off balance-- but instead he bounced off the juggernaut of a man.
“The Speed Force. I remember when it was just a spark. I watched it become so much more. You’re a living conduit for it into this plane, so let’s take full advantage of that as well, shall we?”
He opened his hand, and before Garrick could run away and get help, his body was lifted up off the floor. Threads of crackling energy began to seep out of his pores and pooled in the Starheart’s palm, all the while draining the life out of the speedster along the way.
“Stop this! Stop this, please!” howled the Ray.
The Starheart smiled. He closed his hand and the Speed Force energy raced across his body, swimming in the trenches of the armour, making it seem like there were seams of lightning that connected each plate of metal that covered him.
“I’m making a spell, children. You’re lucky I’ve locked you in your bodies. Forgot about the Flash. You always… forget… about the Flash…” There was something knowing in his words, but he didn’t linger on them. “And now, the final ingredient. The final piece of the puzzle. Young Jakeem. Young Thunder. Hand me your genie, why don’t you?”
Jakeem’s eyes opened wide. He was breathing deeply through his nose, panicking. His hand was not under his own control, so he simply, awkwardly, in a few mechanical movements, took his pen out from his pocket, and handed it to the Starheart.
“Can I have him?”
“Y-y-yes,” stuttered Jakeem, the words not his own, but with a weight of their own none the less. And with ownership exchanged, a pact was sealed. What came next… would be cataclysmic.
“What’ve we got?” asked Stewart, floating up behind Henshaw.
Three months had passed since Coast City had died in agony.
Three months had passed since any of them had really spoken.
But typical, Spaceman always had to be out here first, didn’t he?
Hank didn’t look back at his partner. “Telemetry from Kyle and Thaal’s rings are interesting to say the least.”
“I clocked the speed. Faster than light. And we’re sure it’s not dipping into the subluminal tunnels that connect sectors?”
“No clue. They’ve been travelling in its wake but their focus has been on dodging the things that the projectile has phased through. From the Forbidden Sectors all the way to 2814. Long trip…”
“Then we best be thinking hard and fast about stopping it in its tracks,” said Guy.
“You took your time,” said John.
“I was visiting my sister. Lucky I was in the neighbourhood. How long we got?”
Hank grunted. “Minutes.”
“Okay. Hard and fast,” repeated Guy.
“No, what about… porous and absorbing?” countered John.
“…Go on.”
“It phases through solid matter. We cast a net of energy designed to integrate with the shape. We get our hooks in it, softly softly, and we can bring it to a slow stop. Hopefully.”
Hank pointed off into the distance. “It’s coming.”
“Softly softly then,” said Guy.
John nodded. “Here’s what I’m thinking.”
He transmitted an idea into the rings of the other Lanterns, and they began to feel their way around the concept. A power ring could do anything that the bearer imagined, and if they had a singular intent they could achieve anything.
Three of them, shaping an idea like it was clay, enhancing it, thinking of new ways to make it work. A singular intent was a powerful thing, even admirable in their line of work.
When the shape-- a swirling, bright blue mass of energy-- reached them, and their net was cast wide, they couldn’t fail. The shape struck, and the trio were yanked back along the wake of the object. They swung behind it, nearly smashed into Sinestro and Rayner, who looked haggard at this point, but could feel it working. The trio focused on their construct, and transmitted the idea to the newly arrived duo, who added their rings’ might to the idea.
And
then
the
shape
began
to
ssssssssslow…
The five Green Lanterns snapped forward as the celestial body flung them forward, and it took their wits and will to stop them from smashing into its surface.
“I’m sick of intercepting things trying to sneak into our solar system*,” said Hank.
“It’s stopped, or it’s slowed, that’s… that’s something…” said Kyle.
“Catch your breaths,” said John.
“What is this thing?” asked Guy.
“Our rings have been deep scanning since we latched ourselves onto it, but it’s… the rings can’t see inside it. They say it’s too bright,” said Sinestro.
“It’s like a star. A star that moves. Maybe some kind of sentient stellar phenomenon? Mogo but brighter?” offered John.
“Or a weapon,” countered Guy.
LISTEN
CLOSE
The noise was so loud it caused them to clamp their hands around their ears. It delved deep inside them, clutched at their stomachs and found a new level of bass that they’d never experienced before. If they weren’t seasoned vets at this point, they’d have vomited up their collective lunches.
“Aaaah, god, what is that?!” asked Guy.
MY BROTHER
MANIFESTS
AND BRINGS
CHANGE
“What… what… what…” The sound was so heavy. So heavy in fact, that it nearly smashed down on their willpower and rendered it into small pieces. Henshaw clamped his hand around Stewart’s shoulder and reinforced his forcefield with his own, and noting this, Guy did the same for Kyle and Sinestro. They doubled down on their willpower, and reared their heads up.
“Who are you? Turn the god damn volume down and tell us who you are!” demanded Guy.
TOO
LATE
All the Starheart had to do was utter two syllables.
So he did.
“Cei-u.”
And the entire universe changed with a wish.
NEXT ISSUE: TWith a wish, everything changes. What brave new world will be created from the Starheart's chaotic imagination? And what place will the Green Lantern Corps have in it? What is the true nature of the cerulean ‘other’ that escaped from the Forbidden Sectors, and what hope do our heroes of restoring reality to its proper setting? And who will be lost by the time all is said and done? FIND OUT NEXT MONTH AS WE HEAD TOWARD OUR SEVENTY FIFTH ISSUE!
In recent days, Sector 2814’s cadre of Green Lanterns failed to prevent a horrific event occurring on Earth-- the entire population of Coast City was annihilated by the cosmic horror known as M’NAGALAH, the evil patron of the villainous BLACK HAND.
In one fail swoop, tens of thousands were dead after experiencing a trauma unlike anything they could have imagined, and the only four left standing were the so-called heroes who couldn’t save them-- GUY GARDNER, HANK HENSHAW, JOHN STEWART and the newly returned KYLE RAYNER.
But the tribulations didn’t end there-- KYLE, who had long been missing after relinquishing the power of the White Lantern, was inducted into the Green Lantern Corps after his beloved girlfriend, ALEX DeWITT accepted the power he had rejected, all to save his life! Now she’s missing amongst the stars, her current location unknown! KYLE reunited with his old mentor, THAAL SINESTRO, to begin the search for his lost love.
HANK underwent a trial of his own, when the mentally compromised CAROL FERRIS-- the sole Star Sapphire created by the beastly PREDATOR entity-- sought to recreate the energy that turned the former astronaut into a vile monster, but thanks to the machinations of the White Lantern-- put in place over a year ago-- HENSHAW resisted and emerged victorious! CAROL was taken into custody by the Star Sapphires, in the hope they could undo the damage done to her fractured psyche.
The comrades have to deal with the trauma of their failure, all the while facing the horrors that await them in the coming months… but before all that, one positive thing might have happened… ALAN SCOTT, the Justice Society of America’s own Green Lantern, has opened his eyes after over a year in a coma… what could that mean for Earth? And what does that mean for the heroes who protect it?
Welcome back to the ongoing adventures of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS!
John Stewart looked at his hand and noted that his power ring was missing. That was fine, he took it off when he slept, for fear of his dreams becoming reality without him meaning them to. He was a disciplined man, and as regimented as his dreams could be, sometimes they were nightmares, and that meant they could climb out of his head and into the world if they brushed up against the imagination-fuelled energies of the Green Lantern ring.
Coast City’s streets were bustling with activity, and people waved at him as he walked on by. They all knew him, they all trusted him, and that was a comforting feeling. He’d heard stories from his father, about how he’d returned from Vietnam and been spat on by waiting crowds at the airport. It was the worst kind of life then, war aside, and John had been lucky enough to avoid that.
Someone brushed up against him and he turned, the woman who’d impacted him apologising profusely. He waved her off, because it was nothing, these things didn’t matter, but when she wasn’t looking, someone brushed up against her, and before his eyes that person merged with the woman. She screamed in shock at this sudden bodily invasion, but it was too late, the man who’d bumped into her was now part of her, his arms jutting out of her torso, their heads an alien mush. They spun awkwardly, like a couple who were taking their first dance lesson, and bumped into a group of tourists, who all began to merge with one another.
John had seen this before in different circumstances. Back when the black sphere surrounded the city, when an intelligence from beyond this dimension tried to enter it, promising to provide infinite, unending life to anything it touched. A cancer god. M’Nagalah.
John reached out, he cried out, but it was all too late-- forever too late--
The tumour-thing that shrieked with ten thousand separate voices lurched toward him, roiling with blinking, tearful eyes, and it was about to engulf him when--
--The sleeping cerulean sun dreamt in celestial silence.
In the distance of those dreams, you could see another star, its surface covered in flames that licked emerald with envy. Thee was an intensity in the dreams that vibrated harshly, fuelled by the kind of enmity that could only be forged with a betrayed brotherhood. The hostility nestled deep in the hearts of the stars were a clear identifier of the war that they had waged for billions of years, and the fact that one was asleep and dreaming and the other awake and scheming suggested that one star had won and the other lost.
The sleeping cerulean sun imagined, in its dreams, that its nemesis dreamt of fire edged with cerulean, biting and snapping at the universal balance they both served, but never encountering the cosmic accelerant both needed to spread they’re burning word-- one sun would devour the galaxy while the other would bring about peace.
If one woke before the other…
If the sleeping cerulean sun was known as order, calm and collected, the awakened emerald sun would be chaos, manic and uncontrollable. Ready to spread if it found the right fuel. If the awakened emerald sun sparked the fuse, then what dreams could keep the sleeping cerulean sun dormant? What would happen if the awakened emerald sun began to spread its tendrils into the heart of every being in the universe… and burned them to cinders?
The sleeping cerulean sun stirred, blue light flared upon its surface, and the dreams continued to flow…
John awoke suddenly, drenched in the kind of sweat that comes with nightmares. “What… was that?”
Issue Seventy-Three: “The Resurrection of Alan Scott”
HoM
JSA BROWNSTONE:
Beneath the Justice Society of America’s brownstone headquarters in New York City, in a complex built to withstand attacks from the planet’s most dangerous villains, was a state-of-the-art medical facility staffed by some of the keenest minds the profession had to offer.
Over the last year, a veritable super team of super-science and super-medicine experts had come and gone, the likes of Ray Palmer, Niles Caulder, Shay Veritas and many more working in tandem with the in-house doctor Pieter Cross, all to bring Alan Scott, aka the Justice Society’s Green Lantern, out of his coma.
For all intents and purposes, the cranial trauma that had rendered Alan comatose had healed, thanks to the mystical trinket on his finger. Neural pathways repaired in a haze of green, bone knitted back together in a blur of emerald. Any external attempts to assist in the process were rendered useless, the ring taking the lead in its bearer’s healing process.
“Why won’t you wake up…?” pondered Michael Holt, the JSA’s Mister Terrific.
Michael was there when a terrorist attack on the All-Star Academy-- engineered by the deadly Dragon King-- rendered Alan Scott, the JSA’s Green Lantern, into a coma, as a support beam struck the side of his head and left him at death’s door*.
*Justice Society of America #14
He regretted not being able to do anything to help at that moment, but it was chaos, fire everywhere, the building collapsing around them… that was then, this was now, over a year later…
“If you’re healed, why aren’t you waking up?” asked Holt.
“We both know it’s not as simple as that. Can’t sleep, Michael?”
Doctor Cross entered the room behind his colleague and patted him on the shoulder. He’d tried everything to bring Scott out of the coma, but every conventional means had failed. They were in uncharted territory, and that was the worst place to be in when the life of a friend was in the balance.
Holt shrugged. “You know I don’t much need to. Any changes?”
“Your T-Spheres would let you know before I got a chance to get the words out. But yes, for all intents and purposes, Alan Scott is as healthy as they come. But his mind isn’t coming back to the surface. It really is a wait and see situation. Never before have we had a case like this…”
“Shouldn’t have come to it. He saved our lives, and now he’s paying the price.”
Holt closed his eyes and could see the blaze from nearly a year ago, and within it, Alan Scott limned in his own green, mystical flames.
From where Michael stood, his arms raised to prevent the fire licking at his face, the T-Sphere projected force field keeping the worst of it from him and the others in the room, he could see he firestorm rage all around the Green Lantern, the shock of the events plain in the older man’s face.
A dear friend had died under the control of the Dragon King, and Alan’s hesitation when he saw the C4 vest meant they were in this current situation. Fear, shame and anger bristled across Scott, and his emerald flames mingled with the crackling inferno unleashed upon the All-Star Academy.
Michael called out Alan’s name and the Green Lantern somehow heard-- he was then, just as he responded, caught in a secondary explosion that showered him with debris, much of it splintered wood-- word being the only known substance on Earth able to defeat his ring-- Scott cried out despite himself as he was slashed and burned. A big piece caught him across the side of his head and he went down in a spray of blood, and Holt could do nothing but cry out in shock.
“Dammit, I should have done more,” said Holt, shaking his head as the memory settled inside him.
“There was nothing else you could have done, Michael Holt.”
“What the--?!” gasped Pieter.
The two of them took a step back as, without warning, Alan Scott floated upwards. Emerald flames flowed over his body like the tide coming in The gown he wore went up in emerald flames and replaced by a suit of hard, green armour and a flowing cape, and within seconds he was whole again, stood in front of his two friends, smiling.
“I am awake, at last,” said Alan.
Except, while the voice was his, there was more to it than there every was before. It was an octave lower, his accent sharper, like something new and different was talking through him. There was a light around his eyes that throbbed and flowed with every breath he took, and the two physicians couldn’t help but be on edge
“My God!” said Cross, rushing to the side of the Green Lantern. “Alan, how-- what-- “
“I apologise, Pieter Cross. I have not been clear. I am awake. I am not Alan Scott. Though like him, I have fought side-by-side with the Justice Society of America since its formation. I am the Starheart. And a great threat is rising against us.”
Michael Holt said nothing as his T-Spheres scanned the man he had come to know since his joining the JSA. Instead of neural pathways alight with electrical charges, there was a crackle of visible emerald fire moving through Alan Scott’s brain. The Green Lantern turned his attention to Michael and smiled.
“You are unconvinced?”
“I’m concerned,” said Michael. A mental command sent through his mask to the Justice Society’s communication array alerted everyone to this sudden shift. “You’re saying you’re the Starheart-- the ring on Alan’s finger? Then where’s Alan? You’ve asserted control over Alan’s body, but where’s his consciousness?”
“Alan is at rest. He has been through so much, we thought it best I assume control of his body while his mind heals.” He held up his gauntleted hand and clenched his fist. “
“I want to speak to him,” said Holt. “I need to hear him say this.”
“I just told you that he is healing. To awaken him now would render this body useless, and set back his healing for many months, if not longer. Michael Holt, why do you doubt my word?”
“I’m a pragmatist,” said Michael. “The JSA are on their way, but we need to ensure--”
“It will be good to be united with my comrades-in-arms,” said the Starheart. “But first, we must prepare for the war.” He stood with his arms crossed. “Shall we begin?”
THE EDGE OF THE FORBIDDEN SECTORS:
Sinestro lowered his ring and shook his head. “Her trail ends here…and the spatial distortions caused by the border mean we’re not going to pick it back up…”
He floated in front of the invisible boundary between Green Lantern-patrolled space, and the dense galactic region known as the Forbidden Sectors. He’d been trapped in their depths once before*, along with his protégé Kyle Rayner and the daughter of Hal Jordan, Jessica.
*Check out ‘Scarlet Reign’, which ran in Green Lantern #44-50
That was a long story, and not a period of his life he wanted to relive, considering it involved him dying to get there. But his mind was wandering, and he wanted to get back on track…
“We have to go in after her, then,” said Kyle.
He was itching to go. His aura flickered, as if he was holding himself back. Sinestro was impressed by the singular intention behind Rayner’s protege's actions, but he knew where such intention could lead. Besides, they’d barely caught up, and after that, barely caught their breaths-- there was so much to do, and Rayner felt there was so little time--
As soon as he’d found himself in possession of a Green Lantern power ring*, he’d had one thought on his mind, and that was to locate his girlfriend, Alex DeWitt. This was no ordinary pursuit-- she had become the vessel for the White Light, the infinite energy that had once granted Kyle the powers that made him the White Lantern.
*All this took place in this month's Green Lantern Corps Annual #3
Kyle knew the weight that came with wielding infinite power, and it was that weight that led him to relinquishing it and removing himself from the memories of those who might try and find him-- it was worth a shot, but some bonds go deeper than that, and his closest allies remembered him. They may be reunited now, but the attempt... questions would have to be asked.
“The Forbidden Sectors are forbidden for a reason, Kyle. You may have attempted to remove my memories of you from my mind, but I never forgot-- just like I didn’t forget the lessons I taught you.”
“But if she’s in there, and they’re forbidden for a reason, all the more reason we go in after her!”
Sinestro held up his hand, frustrating rising in his chest. “She wields the White Light, Kyle! You know what that means! She’s infinitely powerful, and with the cosmic awareness that comes with it, she can look after herself!”
“Until her entire personality is burnt out by the power, that is!” countered Kyle.
“As you say. We must have faith in the thought that she might be able to control the power, at least for now. We will find her. And if that means mounting a Corps-wide rescue operation into the Forbidden Sectors… then I will stand by you then as well.”
“You mean…?” started Kyle.
“Maybe it’s time the Forbidden Sectors weren’t forbidden. Maybe it’s--”
Something caught Sinestro’s eye behind Kyle that caused him to fall silent. The look on his face painted a picture for Kyle, but when he turned to see what it was that caused his mentor to stop speaking, nothing he had imagined did the sight justice.
A roiling, seething stellar mass hurtled toward their position. It burned incredibly bright, and for a moment Kyle hoped-- wished-- that it as Alex. But the light wasn’t white, it was a burning, incendiary blue, and as it shot toward them and passed the invisible barrier that the universe knew not to cross unless they wanted to risk their lives-- they travelled as fast as they could so it didn’t hit them.
Sinestro looked at his aura, and saw a cluster of blue flames form where sparks of light from the anomaly had landed. He brushed them off, and then looked to Kyle, who had formed an array of scanning devices in front of him.
“What is that thing?” asked Kyle.
“No clue, but we know where it came from, so it can’t be good,” said Sinestro.
“I’m tracking its trajectory-- oh, of god damn course-- it’s headed for Earth!” said Kyle.
Sinestro cursed and the two of them thought about being caught in the shape’s wake, about travelling with it to its destination, and then they too vanished, moving faster than they could possibly being to imagine!
JSA BROWNSTONE:
“I am not Alan Scott, though I know you like he does,” said the Starheart as he stood before the assembled ranks of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Academy students. “Every moment he wore me, I was with him. And I was with you.”
Representing the original Justice Society, Doctor Fate, the Flash, Hawkman and Wildcat were present, along with his children, Jade and Obsidian. Newer members like Captain Marvel and Mister Terrific were stood to the side, taking in the situation. Members of the Young All-Stars, namely Atomika, Jakeem Thunder, Icicle, the Ray and Tigress, were also sat at the meeting table, listening intently to what their ‘returned’ mentor had to say. There were others on the active roster, but they had been out when Alan had awoken. They’d be on their way shortly.
Carter Hall, aka Hawkman, felt his grip tighten around his mace. “Then why isn’t Alan here right now? What have you done with him?”
The Starheart sighed. “I have explained this already. Alan Scott’s mind is still healing. The physical trauma was just the beginning. The psychological trauma was worse. I would have remained dormant, if not for my awareness that something is approaching the world, something that will render all we have built together to ash.”
“I say we take him as his word, guys. You’ve been tryin’ to learn how to trust more, haven’t you?” said Icicle, smiling slickly.
“Now’s probably not the time, Cam,” replied Tigress.
“I’m sorry, but this is a lot to take in,” said the Flash. Jay Garrick removed his hat and placed it on the table in front of him, running a hand through his grey-streaked hair. “We’ve all been hoping and praying that Alan will wake up, but when he does, we get you instead? It’s just… a lot.”
“What Flasher is tryna say is you gotta understand our position,” said Wildcat. “We never heard of this kinda deal before, you bein sentient or whateva. Talk us through it an we’ll see if we can come ta terms with it.”
“I understand, truly I do, but I cannot stand here all day and try to convince you of my truth. There is something coming and we have to prepare. If we do not…”
“Yes, you said,” said James Corrigan, former Spectre, current ghost and bearer of the helm of Doctor Fate. “Now, if we entertain the thought that you’re the sentient ring on Alan’s finger wearing him like he usually wears you; just for one moment, let’s entertain that; what’s coming?”
“Who here knows the origin of this ring?” asked the Starheart, holding up his hand.
Ray Terrill, aka the Ray, cleared his throat. “Alan Scott nearly died in a train crash. There was an emerald battery-- you, or whatever-- and it protected him. He made a ring from the battery and became the Green Lantern.”
Jakeem Thunder tutted and shook his head. “Nerd.”
Ray shrugged. “Read a book.”
“You know the origins of the ring, but not that which the ring is carved from. You see… before time, before space, my brother and I… we fought unimaginable evils. And even now, I can sense that those evils have sought restoration on this plane of existence. Our enemies were abstract, alien concepts… but they were pure evil.”
“I’ve never heard this before,” said Obsidian.
“You don’t think dad was hiding this from us?” whispered Jade.
The Starheart held up his hands. “No, no, Alan never knew my true origin. Regardless, our enemies back then, they referred to themselves as kings but they were terrible, terrible beings. They were the darkness while my brother and I were the light, and we dispelled them after eons spent in battle… during that time, the universe came into being. And the universe… had guardians. Those guardians thought my brother and I were just as bad as the monsters we banished from existence, and for that crime… we were imprisoned. Our energies turned inwards. My brother… he allowed this to happen. He believed that our time had passed…”
“But you didn’t?” said the Flash.
“Correct. But it was too late. My being was transformed celestially, and I became a star. Binary stars in a forbidden sector of the universe. We existed in tandem, until, through sheer force of will, I managed to send a fragment of myself out from my core, out from the sun I had become, and out into the cosmos. The act depleted my consciousness, I was rendered dormant, and in the forbidden sectors, the emerald sun that was once my body dimmed.”
“And now here you are,” said Garrick.
“And now here I am,” repeated the Starheart.
COAST CITY:
No power. No water. No infrastructure, and worst of all… no survivors.
Hank Henshaw ran his hands through his grey hair. He’d worked around the clock with countless government agencies to try and find any citizens who might have avoided the cancerous amalgamation the M’Nagalah put them through*, but to no avail. Three months had passed. No one left alive.
*Green Lantern Corps Annual #3
“You okay there, man?” asked one of the rescue workers, holding out a bottle of water toward the Green Lantern.
“Yeah. Yeah, m’fine,” replied Hank. He accepted the drink and took a sip, wiping his brow of sweat. “Thanks.”
“No worries. I just wanted to say… uh… we know you did what you could, y’know? Uh. It’s not like you stood by and let this happen. So… I guess… it’s not your fault, you know?”
The fall of Coast City. Hundreds of thousands of people dead. A quintet of Green Lanterns standing in the rubble of the scene. No bodies left to bury. Just… horror.
Hank scratched his beard. His skin was still soft from where he’d had to regrow the flesh of his face after Black Hand’s Legion of the Damned caught his friends and him unawares*, but it was normalising quickly enough. He remembered the old Swift quote, ‘I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.’
*Green Lantern Corps #71
It did nothing to cheer him up.
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” Hank said finally.
Guy and John had continued fighting the good fight. Gardner was spending more time in Sector 2814, when his Honour Lantern duties would allow, while Stewart continued to work alongside the Justice League. He’d split his time between them and here, doing what he could to restore Coast to its former glory. But what was the point? Nobody would ever want to live here again.
An urgent transmission spiked in via his power ring, and Hank answered immediately, hearing Kyle Rayner’s stream of consciousness as it broke through on all lines: <Boys, we might have a situation forming over here-- we’re currently caught in the slipstream of some kind of-- runaway meteor-- but it’s-- it’s phasing through everything it passes-- stars, planets, everything. It’s headed to Earth, straight from the Forbidden Sectors-- it’s hella weird and we want to create some kind of blockade on the edge of the Milky Way. Can you get up there ASAP? We’re about 60 minutes away!>
“On my way,” said Hank. He handed the water back to the rescue worker, and headed up-- up--
As Henshaw took the skies and eventually vanished from sight, the rescue worked smiled, and headed down an alley. Debris had been cleared, but it was still a mess, and without anyone actually living in the city at the moment—apart from the vagrants who had begun to sneak in in the dead of night—it wasn’t going to get any tidier until the heavy equipment returned to finish its task.
The rescue worker began to whistle to himself, then herself, as his body shifted to reveal her true form.
Terri Henshaw, the woman Hank had once been married to until her apparent death deep in space, chuckled, knowing that the powers she wielded tricked even her beloved husband. She could walk out in the world without fear of discovery, because not even Hank could tell the difference.
She stroked her pregnant belly and made her way back to whence she came…
JSA BROWNSTONE:
“I don’t mean to cause offense, but in all my years, in all my vast experience, I’ve never heard of you,” said Corrigan.
“You are touched by the heavens, I can sense that much; you used to be wielded by the Spectre as a host for his vengeful ways. I can see the times we stood united against the forces of evil, before… whatever happened to render you so small.”
Corrigan was unfazed by the slight. “Your point?”
“I am infinite. The Spectre is not. There are degrees of eternity, James Corrigan. And the Presence is a flicker of light caught up by that which my sun casts.”
“Then… then what?” asked Jakeem. He was nervous, flicking the genie-filled pen he’d been gifted by Johnny Thunder around, clicking the button but not summoning his Thunderbolt.
“As my fragment travelled through the cosmos, it amassed enough cosmic debris around it so that I ended up appearing like a meteor, some rock displaced from a place beyond this solar system, but that just meant my light was diminished, not gone. Then two thousand years ago, I fell to Earth. My core was shaped into a lantern by a man known as Chang. Then once I shone my light over dark things, I was hidden away until a mad man by the name of Billings found my new shape and carved it into a train lantern. And then I was found by Alan Scott, who wielded me to become the Green Lantern. That name was cruel cosmic joke, considering it was the Guardians of the Universe, prior to their founding of their Corps, that locked me away in that sun.”
“I can’t just sit here and listen to this!” cried Jade, throwing her arms up into the air as she stood abruptly.
“Jenn, it’s okay…” said Obsidian, reaching out to her in sympathy.
“N-no, it’s not. That’s not dad. That’s not him. It’s… wearing him.”
“As your father used to wear me?” offered the Starheart, extending his hand, once again showing the power ring on his gauntlet-covered finger.
“No, you-- you’re possessing him!”
“…As your father used to possess me?”
Jade shook her head vehemently. “Stop it! Just stop it!”
She stormed out of the room, and Obsidian went after her, leaving the rest of the assembled Justice Society members concerned at how quickly the situation had turned.
Standing off to the side, the spirit form of James Corrigan, who had taken up the vestments of Fate since Kent and Inza Nelson vanished under mysterious circumstances*, looked unsure of what to make of the Starheart’s words. Once, he’d been the host of the Spectre, a catastrophic and single-minded spirit of vengeance, and he when things weren’t right, when things weren’t as they seemed, he cottoned on fast enough. Even when he was alive, when he was a Gotham City police detective, he could tell when something wasn’t right within seconds.
*Justice Society of America #3
The Starheart cast a glance over at the ethereal man, the only solid parts of him being the golden amulets and trinkets he bore as the current Doctor Fate. “Why do you linger in this realm?”
“Unfinished business,” he replied, slowly.
“I remember when you wielded unlimited power as the Spectre… now you bear the mantle of Fate. I can sense the magic intermingling with your spiritual form. Are you not concerned that staying here, stranding yourself on the earth-realm, might prevent your moving on to the next one?”
“If you were Alan, you’d know that I can’t rest without knowing what happened to my friends. I can’t rest until we find Kent and Inza Nelson.”
Wildcat took a step between the two figures, his hands raised as if breaking up a fight before it could start. “What’s wrong, Starheart? Why’re you lookin at him like that?”
“I am a thing of pure, unrestrained magic; being in the presence of this… malformed thing… bristles against my wider cosmic senses. Its presence distorts the reality around it.”
Corrigan shook his head. “There’s nothing malformed about me, friend. Maybe it’s because you aren’t a real, living thing, you don’t understand how your words could be construed as a threat. You need to take it down a notch or--”
“Enough.”
Starheart had raised a hand, and Corrigan froze in place, like a statue. The vestments of Fate slipped through his spirit form and landed on the carpeted floor with a heavy clunk, spilling out toward the others.
“Wh-- wh-- wh--”
Corrigan couldn’t get the words out, and when the Justice Society tried to move, tried to intervene with whatever was happening, they too found themselves unable to move a muscle. Their jaws were locked tight, their limbs bound by invisible forces, and the only one amongst them that could move was the Starheart itself. To add insult to injury, Jakeem Thunder’s mouth was sealed shut by a muzzle, preventing him from summoning his Thunderbolt.
“Sssstopthisssss,” spat Hawkman, through gritted teeth.
“I tell you that there is something coming that will render the world desolate and you want to talk. All I want to do is save the world. What kind of heroes do you claim to be, when actions are left at the wayside in favour of words? I am so disappointed.”
He looked at Corrigan and shook his head.
“You’re dead. Go wherever it is you deserve to go.”
Passively, the Starheart waved his hand and Corrigan cried out, his face twisting as if he were under an immense amount of pressure. Before anyone could think to say anything else, he simply vanished, potentially moving on to his final reward… while the Starheart drew the vestments of Fate toward himself through the manipulation of subtle energies.
“And these trinkets… that’s what passes for magic in this age? It’ll do.”
The vestments of Fate fell across the Starheart’s body. The amulet clicked into place at the centre of his own armoured sigil, the helm shifted into liquid and lined his neck and the back of his head, but didn’t obscure his face. The cape intertwined with his own, and within moments he had integrated the mystical might of Doctor Fate into his own immense body.
“I wanted to charm you. I wanted to woo you like a lover. But with my awakening, my true awakening, my brother will be here soon. He will sense the presence of my immensity, and I will need to ruin him, devastate him, before he drags me back to the binary stars that held us for so long! I will not lose my foothold here. I will not lose what I have waited for so long!”
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS:
Gloria Gardner hadn’t had the best relationship with her brother. He’d always been someone she’d looked up to when they were growing up, because it wasn’t like they had an aspirational figure in their father. Gerrard, their older brother, had always tried defending their dad’s actions. They didn’t understand the pressures of his job, they didn’t understand how much it took out of him to serve and protect the city as a law enforcement officer.
Their dad drank.
Their dad beat their mom.
And when their mom died… dad beat his children twice as hard.
Guy developed a thick skin so the world couldn’t get in. Gloria saw it happen. He grew distant, and when he got the opportunity-- when Gloria left for college-- he left as well, joined the Air Force, and the stories she heard about him, about the trouble he got himself caught up in…
What was it that he’d said three months ago?* “I ain’t him anymore. I’m not the man you knew when I was younger and stupider. I’m not.”
*Green Lantern Corps #70
And she believed him. What else did he say? “I want you to know that. I’m not gonna become dad.”
She believed him then, too.
Guy touched down in her back garden, his emerald light dimmed as he knew she didn’t like him drawing attention to himself. His uniform shifted into a shirt and jeans, and he approached her slowly. “Er, sorry I’m late, sis. Things have been… hectic.”
“I know, Guy. Don’t worry about it.”
She twisted the cap off a bottle of beer and handed it to him, then opened her own.
“I gotta admit, I’m surprised you invited me back. I just… well…”
“You’re a god damn idiot is what you are. But you’re my big brother and… and I love you. But we got beers and Donnie’s cooking dinner, so let’s finish these off and I’ll introduce you to my husband. How’s that?”
Guy nodded. She was a spitfire of a woman, just like their ma, and he knew better than to question her. So they sat in silence for a while, drinking, before he turned to her and said, “Donnie? Your husband’s name is Donnie?”
“Donald,” said Gloria, punctuating her point with a punch to his arm.
“Donald, sure, ow, sure. He nice?”
“Of course he’s nice.”
“Then why you hiding him inside? Why’d he not come out and introduce himself?”
“Because I wanted to know if you were going to be a jerk! And now--”
Guy’s ring throbbed and he held his hand up to cut the conversation short. “Sorry, sis. I gotta take this.”
Glory took a swig of her beer and motioned for him to hurry up.
<Boys, we might have a situation forming over here-- we’re currently caught in the slipstream of some kind of-- runaway meteor-- but it’s-- it’s phasing through everything it passes-- stars, planets, everything. It’s headed to Earth, straight from the Forbidden Sectors-- it’s hella weird and we want to create some kind of blockade on the edge of the Milky Way. Can you get up there ASAP? We’re about 60 minutes away!>
“Is this what it’s like?” asked Gloria, once the transmission ended.
“Yeah. Pretty much. On call 24/7/365. Longer if you’re up out there,” he said, gesturing to the sky.
“That’s not how time works, Guy,” she replied.
“Well, yeah, I know that. I’m not stoopid. It makes… everything a bit harder. But the results are worth it.”
“So you gotta go.”
“Yeah,” said Guy, beginning to lift off.
“But… Guy… all this… everything you do… are you happy?”
Guy hovered in place for a moment. “…Happy?”
“Yeah, you, like, fly around space all the time, and that’s great, but if you’re always on--”
“I mean, I take shore leave, so…”
“And you’re telling me you’re off then? That if there’s an emergency you won’t dive head first into it? I’m not… I’m not sniping or anything, it’s just… I’m happy. I want you to be happy too.”
Guy went to say something, but then didn’t know what he could say. He exhaled, smiled, then said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, but don’t wait up. I’ll pop over tomorrow if that’s all right?”
“Yeah, of course. I’ve got the week off, and Donnie and I… well, come over when you can. Call ahead!”
Guy waved and then continued his flight. “Will do!”
But her question rang in her ears… because he didn’t know the answer.
JSA BROWNSTONE:
The Starheart paced the floor of the meeting room, paying little attention to the group of heroes he’d captured. He was lost in thought, rambling, a physical body something so new to him, yet so familiar.
“I can hear him coming… my awakening must have stirred him… so something must be done… something drastic…”
Captain Marvel strained against the invisible restraints that held him and the others fast, and using his immense will, was able to speak. “Sssssstop this, Starheart… you can’t not see that this is wrong…”
“I decide what is right and wrong now, young man. I have lived longer than any of you can possibly imagine. I was here before the dawn of creation, and I will be here when creation ends!”
“You… you killed our friend…” growled Hawkman.
“I dismissed a wayward spirit, Carter. Why can’t you see that? Why can’t any of you see that I mean well?”
“Actions… speak louder… than words…” said Captain Marvel.
“My words can be louder than anything you’ve heard before. Loud enough to pierce dimensions. Loud enough to draw down thunder,” said the Starheart.
Captain Marvel realised what was being said, but could do nothing--
“How’s this for a word? How’s ‘SHAZAM!’?”
Thunder cracked down on the spot where Captain Marvel was held in space and he vanished in a haze of smoke. Instead of leaving the diminutive form of Billy Batson behind, there was a patch of charred wood, and silence.
Lighting rustled across the Starheart’s body. He’d somehow absorbed more power. More magical might. He looked at Jakeem Thunder and smiled. “You’re not even supposed to be here.” He looked over at Mister Terrific. “And neither… should you.”
“Keep-- away-- from-- him!”
The Flash had managed to vibrate himself out of the restraints, too late to save Corrigan or Marvel, but in time to throw himself into the Starheart, hoping to knock him off balance-- but instead he bounced off the juggernaut of a man.
“The Speed Force. I remember when it was just a spark. I watched it become so much more. You’re a living conduit for it into this plane, so let’s take full advantage of that as well, shall we?”
He opened his hand, and before Garrick could run away and get help, his body was lifted up off the floor. Threads of crackling energy began to seep out of his pores and pooled in the Starheart’s palm, all the while draining the life out of the speedster along the way.
“Stop this! Stop this, please!” howled the Ray.
The Starheart smiled. He closed his hand and the Speed Force energy raced across his body, swimming in the trenches of the armour, making it seem like there were seams of lightning that connected each plate of metal that covered him.
“I’m making a spell, children. You’re lucky I’ve locked you in your bodies. Forgot about the Flash. You always… forget… about the Flash…” There was something knowing in his words, but he didn’t linger on them. “And now, the final ingredient. The final piece of the puzzle. Young Jakeem. Young Thunder. Hand me your genie, why don’t you?”
Jakeem’s eyes opened wide. He was breathing deeply through his nose, panicking. His hand was not under his own control, so he simply, awkwardly, in a few mechanical movements, took his pen out from his pocket, and handed it to the Starheart.
“Can I have him?”
“Y-y-yes,” stuttered Jakeem, the words not his own, but with a weight of their own none the less. And with ownership exchanged, a pact was sealed. What came next… would be cataclysmic.
THE EDGE OF THE MILKY WAY:
“What’ve we got?” asked Stewart, floating up behind Henshaw.
Three months had passed since Coast City had died in agony.
Three months had passed since any of them had really spoken.
But typical, Spaceman always had to be out here first, didn’t he?
Hank didn’t look back at his partner. “Telemetry from Kyle and Thaal’s rings are interesting to say the least.”
“I clocked the speed. Faster than light. And we’re sure it’s not dipping into the subluminal tunnels that connect sectors?”
“No clue. They’ve been travelling in its wake but their focus has been on dodging the things that the projectile has phased through. From the Forbidden Sectors all the way to 2814. Long trip…”
“Then we best be thinking hard and fast about stopping it in its tracks,” said Guy.
“You took your time,” said John.
“I was visiting my sister. Lucky I was in the neighbourhood. How long we got?”
Hank grunted. “Minutes.”
“Okay. Hard and fast,” repeated Guy.
“No, what about… porous and absorbing?” countered John.
“…Go on.”
“It phases through solid matter. We cast a net of energy designed to integrate with the shape. We get our hooks in it, softly softly, and we can bring it to a slow stop. Hopefully.”
Hank pointed off into the distance. “It’s coming.”
“Softly softly then,” said Guy.
John nodded. “Here’s what I’m thinking.”
He transmitted an idea into the rings of the other Lanterns, and they began to feel their way around the concept. A power ring could do anything that the bearer imagined, and if they had a singular intent they could achieve anything.
Three of them, shaping an idea like it was clay, enhancing it, thinking of new ways to make it work. A singular intent was a powerful thing, even admirable in their line of work.
When the shape-- a swirling, bright blue mass of energy-- reached them, and their net was cast wide, they couldn’t fail. The shape struck, and the trio were yanked back along the wake of the object. They swung behind it, nearly smashed into Sinestro and Rayner, who looked haggard at this point, but could feel it working. The trio focused on their construct, and transmitted the idea to the newly arrived duo, who added their rings’ might to the idea.
And
then
the
shape
began
to
ssssssssslow…
The five Green Lanterns snapped forward as the celestial body flung them forward, and it took their wits and will to stop them from smashing into its surface.
“I’m sick of intercepting things trying to sneak into our solar system*,” said Hank.
*Check out next week's Justice League #64
“It’s stopped, or it’s slowed, that’s… that’s something…” said Kyle.
“Catch your breaths,” said John.
“What is this thing?” asked Guy.
“Our rings have been deep scanning since we latched ourselves onto it, but it’s… the rings can’t see inside it. They say it’s too bright,” said Sinestro.
“It’s like a star. A star that moves. Maybe some kind of sentient stellar phenomenon? Mogo but brighter?” offered John.
“Or a weapon,” countered Guy.
LISTEN
CLOSE
The noise was so loud it caused them to clamp their hands around their ears. It delved deep inside them, clutched at their stomachs and found a new level of bass that they’d never experienced before. If they weren’t seasoned vets at this point, they’d have vomited up their collective lunches.
“Aaaah, god, what is that?!” asked Guy.
MY BROTHER
MANIFESTS
AND BRINGS
CHANGE
“What… what… what…” The sound was so heavy. So heavy in fact, that it nearly smashed down on their willpower and rendered it into small pieces. Henshaw clamped his hand around Stewart’s shoulder and reinforced his forcefield with his own, and noting this, Guy did the same for Kyle and Sinestro. They doubled down on their willpower, and reared their heads up.
“Who are you? Turn the god damn volume down and tell us who you are!” demanded Guy.
TOO
LATE
JSA BROWNSTONE:
All the Starheart had to do was utter two syllables.
So he did.
“Cei-u.”
And the entire universe changed with a wish.
NEXT ISSUE: TWith a wish, everything changes. What brave new world will be created from the Starheart's chaotic imagination? And what place will the Green Lantern Corps have in it? What is the true nature of the cerulean ‘other’ that escaped from the Forbidden Sectors, and what hope do our heroes of restoring reality to its proper setting? And who will be lost by the time all is said and done? FIND OUT NEXT MONTH AS WE HEAD TOWARD OUR SEVENTY FIFTH ISSUE!