Part 1: UFO

58. That was the number that sent Leah Jenkinson over the edge. 58% on an English essay, when her first language was English and she'd been writing proper essays for four years, was not acceptable.

Leah put the incriminating essay back on her desk. She clenched her hands into fists, but managed to keep her face impassive. Ms. English (that was actually her real name) finished handing back the essays and went back to her desk to start playing the Macbeth recording that they were listening to.

was commonly referred to as "Cruella", though when she was around she was called "Her" in venomous tones. She didn't teach well, she refused to help anyone, and she was an unreasonable marker.

Back to the 58%. Leah had worked her butt off for weeks to write that essay. She'd re-typed so many sentences that her fingers cramped. She'd edited it three times outside of class editing. Yet, she got a 58.

No, Ms. English had given her a 58%, for no good reason. She hadn't even written excuses, just a big, fat 58.

"I hate Her," Leah thought suddenly. The words were so delicious that she thought them again.

"I hate Her."

Then she took that hate and did as she always did, bottled it up and put it away where she could never find it again. Her stoic face didn't slip for a second as she shoved the essay into her bag, and then got to work taking notes on ActII with the rest of her class.

Three hundred and twenty-two meters above the high school, two men hovered and watched the ring they'd been following go into a nosedive.

"Looks like it's found someone," said one of the men. The wind whipping around them blew the end of his red mustache into his mouth and he spat it out without taking his eyes off the ring. "This is my area of expertise; you can go back to your Artic dream home now." He dove through the air after the speeding ring, leaving a streak of red behind him.

The other man just barely stopped himself from snorting.

"As if I'll leave him to take care of anything on his own," he muttered, and he swept his cape behind him and became a blur of red and blue as he flew to catch up with the Red Lantern.

"That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold. What hath quenched them hath given me fire. Hark! Peace! It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman-"

"What's that?" Jack Turok exclaimed, cutting off the recording of 'Lady Macbeth'. The rest of the class, Leah included, turned to see what he was looking at. There were many sounds of surprise. A beam of amber light scanned the outside surface of the window, bleeding through to dance across the faces of everyone looking at it. Leah tilted her head and studied the light with interest.

"Pay attention to the recording," Ms. English ordered when it became clear to her that they were not doing so. Everyone ignored her. The light disappeared and the tiny hovering object that had produced it could be seen backing away from the window.

"What's it doing?" Elizabeth Brown asked.

"What is it?" Jack Turok asked again.

There was a whipping sound and a few people screamed as the object punched through the window, leaving a hole and cracks in the glass not unlike those a bullet would leave.

"It's a ring!" Moses Zabala said, for the people who weren't able to see that for themselves. "Like Green Lantern's!" As the ring flew across the room a few people tried to reach up and catch it. The ring evaded their grasps and came to a hovering stop in front of Leah. She looked at it with interest, ignoring the exclamations of her classmates."

"Leah Jenkinson of Earth, you have great hate in your heart," the ring intoned. Leah unconsciously reached out towards the ring. It slipped itself onto the middle finger of her right hand. There was a bright flash of amber light that made the whole class look away.

"Welcome to the Black Amber Corps."

The flash of light would have blinded Guy Gardner if he wasn't used to even brighter lights in the middle of black space.

Superman was similarly unaffected. "That's not good."

Guy nodded in agreement with Superman's comment. The two of them flew towards where the flash of light had come from. Superman had to hold Guy back so that he wouldn't finish what the ring had started and smash through the classroom's window.

Inside the classroom was bedlam. Everyone was exclaiming loudly and most of them were not sitting at their desks. The teacher was trying in vain to restore order. The only person who was completely quiet was the girl with half blue, half brown hair who was looking down at the new black and amber uniform she was wearing. When she sat up straight the two men got a good look at the unfamiliar symbol sitting over her heart.

"This is really not good," Superman corrected himself.

"You're telling me," Guy groaned. "Just wait until the Greens hear about this. We'll be lucky if there isn't a riot."

No-one had noticed the two of them hovering outside the window. When the girl stood up, Superman continued to hold Guy captive and they waited to see what happened next.

"Oh my gods!"

"Are you, like, a superhero now?"

"Is that yellow or orange?"

"Everyone SIT DOWN!" That was Ms. English. Not surprisingly, no-one listened. She gave up on trying to gain control of the classroom and headed over to the phone, probably to call the office. Or the police. Or a SWAT team.

Leah surveyed the classroom. There weren't any friends here, in fact…

"I hate all of you," she said calmly but firmly.

"Shut up!" Jack Turok said. Everyone shut up. "Sorry, Leah, what did you say?" Leah looked straight at him.

"I said that I hate all of you."

The class now sat in stunned silence. A few people sat down in shock, with varying degrees of successes as they weren't all near seats. Others gasped. Leah turned her gaze on Ms. English, who looked like she was preparing to give a lecture that died in her throat when she met Leah's glare.

"Especially you."

Without another word Leah took her stuff and left the room. Her essay fell to the ground, abandoned behind her.