Sector 666. The Planet Ysmault.
The creature stared, with unblinking eye, at the emerald sigil before him. A ring, carved in the form of a lantern, it sat on the broken arm of a dead man.
The creature smiled.
Atrocitus stood atop a mound of mismatched alien bodies, each one dressed in the familiar green and black uniform of the Green Lantern Corp. His thick red skin almost shivered in joy as he gazed down at his kill.
Six Lanterns dead.
"Puppets of the Guardians!" he roared. "Your powers are nothing compared to theirs… Or mine!"
His raging boast carried all the way up to the heavens, if such a place could exist on this hellish world, whose broken red surface matched that of its demonic inhabitant.
Millennia ago, the ageless and all-powerful Guardians of the Universe had sealed the Demons of the Five Inversions on this planet, in hopes of stopping their rampage throughout the universe. The Guardians' power was strong indeed. But time wears thin even the most powerful spells.
And so Atrocitus was free.
"Don't count us out yet, ugly!" a commanding voice shouted from high above.
The demon turned, and instantly his mouth was bound shut by a band of green energy.
"And get your damn hands off our teammates!"
John Stewart led the eight members of the Honor Guard down to the planet's surface, his eyes glowing green with concentrated willpower.
Atrocitus brought down his fists, shattering his bonds and flinging himself at the Lanterns.
"You are nothing!" he shouted. "You are fleas!"
"Hit him hard, crew!" Stewart ordered as his men spread out and aimed their rings at the approaching beast.
Nine beams of green power slammed into Atrocitus with all the force of a small moon colliding with a planet. The creature struck the ground hard and his impact drove him several miles along the planet's surface, forming a thin but deep trench.
These things, the monster thought as he tasted his own blood in his mouth, they were different. Not like the soft corpsmen he had fed on earlier.
These were true warriors.
Atrocitus tried climbing his way out of the ditch, but his wounds were great.
"I will eat your bones!" he cried. "I will carve RED lanterns from your skulls!"
A shadow crossed over his face, and he looked up to see Stewart standing above him. Neither anger nor bloodlust shown in his eyes. There was only will.
"You first," Stewart said, in one quick motion ramming his ring-fist down the demon's throat and unleashing a torrent of energy.
Atrocitus screamed in rage and pain as the red world around him faded to green.
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With the smoke cleared and Atrocitus bound and returned to his subterranean tomb, the members of the Green Lantern Corp began to attend to their fallen comrades.
"Six Lanterns dead," thought John Stewart aloud.
"It's hard to believe," said Katma Tui, as she approached.
"They had no business being here," Stewart said. "They were just regular members, not Honor Guard. They weren't qualified for something like this."
"They knew the risk," Katma assured him. "They were just the closest Lanterns to this sector. The first to respond."
Stewart said nothing.
"Look, even the Guardians had trouble with Atrocitus back in the day. And we took him down. That's cause for celebration. You're probably looking at a promotion."
Stewart still said nothing.
Suddenly, a small voice picked up as Stewart's ring began to glow involuntarily.
"Green Lantern Honor Guard Designate JOHN STEWART," it said. "Incoming message from the Guardians of the Universe."
"See, I told you," Katma smiled. "Promotion."
John held up his ring and replied, "Go for message, ring."
"John Stewart, you are to report to Oa immediately for demotion and reassignment. That is all."
"What!" spat Katma Tui, as John continued to stare at his ring.
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Oa.
Center of the Universe, and home to the immortal Guardians.
"Abin Sur is dead," spoke the Guardian, in a voice so devoid of passion it sounded like he was reading the weather report.
They almost looked comical. Eighteen men and women, all blue-skinned with giant heads and tiny bodies. They sat on raised platforms along one side of the wall, facing Stewart. It was hard to believe such little bodies could contain so much power.
"How is that possible?" John Stewart roared, his voice echoing within the Great Hall, deep inside the Main Citadel. "Abin Sur was the best of us! Who could kill him!"
With one voice, the eighteen Guardians of the Universe spoke a single word.
"Sinestro," they said.
John Stewart could feel his blood begin to boil at the very mention of that name.
"The Renegade Sinestro," said one of the Guardians. "Once counted among the greatest of the Green Lantern Corp. Student of Abin Sur and your very teacher."
"When it was discovered that he had taken control of his home planet of Korugar," another continued the story, "ruling it with fear, he was removed from service, and banished to the Anti-Matter Universe."
"But there, he formed an alliance with the Weaponers of Qward, who fashioned him a power ring that emits energy harnessed from the yellow end of the Spectrum."
"And ever since returning to our universe, he has been hunting down one Green Lantern Corp member after another."
"So Sinestro is back?" Stewart raged. "Fine. Then I'll bring him in myself!"
As he turned to leave, the Guardian's halted him, "That is not necessary."
"The killer of Abin Sur has already been apprehended, and he awaits trial in one of the Sciencells."
"Apprehended?" asked a confused Stewart. "By who?"
"By Abin Sur's replacement. An Earthman, like yourself. An artist named Kyle Rayner"
"An artist? But the Green Lantern Corp is a military organization. There must have been some mistake!" Stewart reasoned.
One of the Guardians leaned forward.
"The Ring chooses the wearer, John Stewart, you know that. Civilian or not, Abin Sur's ring has chosen him, and he has used it to defeat Sinestro. But he is untrained, and so he will be brought here to refine his skills. However, Sector 2814 cannot be without a Green Lantern. Therefore you must leave Oa, and take his place, resuming life on your home planet of Earth."
Stewart eyed the little blue men suspiciously, as if not believing everything they were telling him.
"Well, if this new kid is so damn great, why does he need additional training? What's really going on?"
The Guardians sat silently for a moment. But John knew that they were communicating with each other via telepathy. They were trying to decide how many of their cards to turn over.
Finally, one spoke up.
"We admit that we are intrigued by the unorthodox style with which he wields the ring. He shows a broadness of mind and willingness to experiment lacking in our present members. Perhaps there is some benefit in recruiting those with a more creative mindset."
"Nevertheless," chimed in another, "you will go and alert him personally that he has 24 Earth hours to get his affairs in order. And then you will relieve him of duty. That is final."
John simply glared at the Guardians. He knew he had lost this fight. Still, he couldn't leave with nothing.
"I want to see Sinestro," he said through gritted teeth.
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S-Shield's notes
Had the various components of this story in my mind for a long time, trying to figure out how they got from Kyle in Superman the Animated Series to John in JLU. Also, I mixed in a little Geoff Johns' Green Lantern material from the recent years, just to spice things up. Let me know what you think. I'll be updating soon.
UPDATE: I recently started a comic book version of this story, which can be viewed at my Deviant Art page. Give it a look!