EMERALD FIRE RISING, by Kevin Foley

A Green Lantern/Phoenix crossover featuring two original characters. Jake Corrigan is a member of the Green lantern Corps who was charged with trying to contain the Phoenix Force before it found a new host. He was unsuccessful and it bound itself to an Earth woman named Annabella.

My name is Jake Corrigan, and I am a Green Lantern. Think of it as a galactic police force. There are about 3600 of us to patrol the entire universe. I myself have been assigned to sector. 2814, which includes my home planet of Earth.

My only weapon is a ring of unimaginable power. The only thing that it runs on is the willpower of the user. It's been called the most powerful weapon in the universe, a claim that has been backed up time after time. This small ring allows me to fly, survive in space, create any object I can think of, shoot energy and can even be a language translator. The only limitation is the willpower of the user. And even than, there has been occasion where the user's willpower has exceeded the rings capabilities. As long as my concentration doesn't get ruined, I can maintain the objects indefinitely. And there is the fact that anything that it creates is green. Even the energy field when I fly surrounds me in a green sheath.

Enough about me for now though. My mission, as I speed back to my planet, is to try and locate and contain an entity called the Phoenix Force. What is that? Well, the Phoenix Force is an immortal and mutable manifestation of the prime universal force of life and passion. Born of the void between states of being, the Phoenix Force is a child of the universe. It is the nexus of all psionic energy which does, has, and ever will exist in all realities.....

The Phoenix is among the most feared beings in the entire existence — having the power to cut and re-grow any part of the universe, as well as destroy it entirely, which is part of the Phoenix's purpose: "The Judgment of the Phoenix", to burn away the obsolete. The Phoenix Force is described as being "the embodiment of the very passion of Creation – the spark that gave life to the Universe, the flame that will ultimately consume it.".

The Phoenix Force has the ability to manipulate cosmic energies and to tap into the life-force reserved for future generations, thus denying them existence. It can wield this energy to project beams of immense destructive force. It can transmigrate throughout time and space by folding its energy back into itself, causing it to collapse akin to a black hole and then reform itself upon reaching its destination. It can directly absorb energy, even the entire energy of a sun. It is also capable of absorbing the energy and life-force from a foe. As it is the nexus of all psionic energy, it has mental abilities of cosmic scope, including telepathy and telekinesis.
Now, from time to time, this entity gets bored, and decides to try and understand the life in the universe better, and bonds with a being, always one with great telepathic and telekinetic power to aid in its own psionic powers. This time, it is heading to Earth.

If that happens, than Lord knows what the damage may be. Usually, in the past, when this has happened, The Phoenix will become Dark Phoenix if it allows human emotions to cloud its judgment. In this state, Phoenix is the strongest, but also is an evil entity. It thirsts for power and destruction. Totally uncontrollable, it is a force to be reckoned with as it is not bound by a human conscience.

As I approach my world, my ring picks up the huge energy signature of the the Phoenix Force as heading towards the state of Texas. I turn on the juice and head for the Lone Star State, hoping to catch up with it before it is too late. And hoping that I can contain it if I do reach it. I don't.

.. ..

I can see the smoke rising, even before my ring registers the energy signature. It has bonded with a human. I land, blending in for the most part with any other regular person. I don't wear any spandex, like those comic book guys. I have black fatigues, black combat boots, a black shirt with the green lantern insignia over the left pec, and a black leather jacket, with the symbol again on the back of it. I have on a pair of Oakley sunglasses, with green tinted lenses (got to protect the eyes out in space).

There was a house that was there, now thought, it is nothing but rubble. I just missed it, as only now can I hear sirens blaring. I act quickly, using my ring to locate any human survivors, I find one. Moving the debris, she appears unharmed, not even a scratch. I think I found the human it bonded with.

And what a human she is. Curvy, black hair, full lips, ivory skin. Almost the type of girl you would see in an old movie. The people of Earth, they wouldn't be ready for this. I think of a how to comfortably move this lovely young woman, this woman who right now is the most powerful, and dangerous, beings in the universe. I actually think of a bed, and one forms underneath her, complete with sheets, tucking her in. .

I take off, the bed in tow. I fly us as quick as I can to my home up in Boston. It's been a few weeks since I've been there, but even than, there is no place like home. Bringing us down, I move her to my real bed, my energy construct disappearing, no longer needed. She has a necklace on that says "Anabella".....

.. ..

I use my ring to give a quick scan of this woman, Anabella. No broken bones, no internal bleeding, but it is able to show her telepathic and telekinetic powers rising dangerously high. I brace myself for when she wakes, because chances are, she is going to be confused and that leads to lashing out.....

Than, I may be in trouble. God, I love this job.

As Annabella lies resting, seemingly in complete peace, my ring starts to spark. It does that very rarely, and it usually means something big. This time, I don't even have to guess what it means. I'm being contacted by the Guardians of the Universe.

The Guardians are my, and every Green Lantern, bosses. They all appear the same: elderly men, with blue skin and white hair, all midgets in red dresses. Yes, I did say midgets in red dresses. They are very strict to following the rules they made for the Lanterns, as the safety of the entire universe rests with us. They have made mistakes in choices before, and they admit to it, as they always try to learn from it. Although they can come across as cold and emotionless, it is more the weight of their duties bearing down on them.

I go into the living room, and open a channel to Oa, the center of the universe and the home base for the Guardians and the Green Lanterns. Before me, a perfect holographic image appears of one of the Guardians. After all this time, I can still not tell any of them apart.

"Greetings Lantern Corrigan" he says to me, "This is Ganthet."

I should have known it would be Ganthet. Out of all the Guardians, he is the only one that seems to think us Earthlings make competent Lanterns. He seems to have a soft spot for our ingenuity and bravado. He continued on.

"How goes your mission?"

"Well, unfortunately, I was not able to capture that Phoenix force and it merged with an Earth girl."

It's not often any Guardian shows any emotion, but Ganthet's eyes widened and his mouth hung open a bit. "This is very bad Corrigan. The Phoenix merging with a human is never a good thing. Destruction always follows."

"You know, I was briefed on that before this mission, but to be honest, if this Phoenix force thing is so deadly, why haven't any of us Lanterns heard f it before?"

"Because it is not from this universe. It is from an alternate universe. It had crossed a barrier and now roams here, and threatens our very existence. Here, it does not even have to follow the rules that bound it in its original universe. What do we know of this human?"

"Only that her name is Annabella. I just found her and brought her to my home. She is out cold right now. Not sure what happened to her, but when I got there, her house was destroyed, yet she just seems to be passed out. No injuries."

"It was the Phoenix merging with her, causing all that destruction from just that one act. Green Lantern Corrigan, you do have permission to use lethal force in this matter. This entity needs to be contained and separated form its host."

"Lethal force? You mean kill the girl?"

"Yes. Do it now, before she wakes."

"I can't just kill an innocent girl. She has done nothing. She is a victim here. For God's sake Ganthet, I do that, and I am no better than Sinestro."

Ganthet cringed at that name. The Guardians biggest mistake ever: making a being from the planet Korugar named Sinestro a Green Lantern. He used his power to conquer his planet and become undisputed ruler. An intergalactic Hitler if you will. The ramifications of his actions are still felt throughout the galaxy to this day. It took a whole host of Lanterns to separate him from his power ring. He was sentenced to eternity in the Anti-matter Universe, but he escaped (don't they always) and had a new weapon. A yellow power ring. Works the same as the green one, except it is powered by fear as opposed to willpower. He even learned to make copies of his ring and started his own corps, the Sinestro Corps. They have been a constant enemy to us for years.

"I am sorry. You are right" Ganthet said, "Than you need to bring her here, to Oa, so that we may be able to separate her from the entity. Corrigan. Jake, the fate of this universe depends on this girl being freed from the Phoenix, before it consumes her very being and runs rampant. "

And with that, he disappeared. I stood there for a few minutes, pondering his warning. The silence was almost deafening, until it was broken by an ear pitching scream from my bedroom. Annabella had woken up.