The Gold Corps: Shattered

Chapter 1: Arrivals

I don't own Young Justice, the Justice League, the Green Lantern Corps, etc.

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He walked the night, and he walked alone, even as he had countless nights before.

True, other modes of transportation were available to him He could fly, but refrained from doing so. He preferred not to draw attention to himself, not without good reason.

He looked up. The dizzying, glittering lights of the city spiraled overhead. How different things had been…only a short time ago.

Even as he watched, his sharper-than-human eyes picked out three yellow suited figures flying high overhead, barely skimming the atmosphere. They moved quickly, a random pattern of zig-zags perhaps to confuse either pursuit or detection. He noted their glowing yellow costumes, and the rings upon their fingers…

And then, they were abruptly gone, as silently as they had come, back into the night sky from whence they'd come.

His gaze lingered on the spot where they'd disappeared for a long time.

….

Onboard the Watchtower: "…detected the energy signature associated with yellow power rings in your sector, Lantern Jordan. Specifics are lacking, but there seems to be more than one. You might wish to be on your guard." Ganthet's holographic image sprang from Hal Jordan's power ring. John Stewart was looking over his shoulder, hearing the exchange.

"Yes, sir, we definitely will. And it might be a good idea to alert other teams, too; Sinestro's seldom picky about who he, uh, picks on."

"Indeed. Oh, and one more thing: Lantern Gardner will be rejoining you shortly. His retraining is complete." Ganthet's face was relaxed, and his voice calm, but Hal could sense something just beneath the surface, something not being said. But he knew there was no point in pursuing it.

"That's good news, sir. How is he?"

"He is well. The taint of the red ring has, of course, left its mark on him. He will need your support, though of course, given his nature, I am certain he would not request it."

"Yeah." Both Green Lanterns smirked at the idea. Guy Gardner, asking for help? When particulate matter ceased to exist, maybe. But probably not even then.

"In any case, we leave that matter in your capable hands." There was a brief pause as the Guardian changed the subject. "And what of this wielder of the golden light, this Ragnar Rok? Have you learned anything more about him?"

"No, sir. And he's not here right now. He and Miss Martian left to go get the other Doomsday's body, the one we fought here. He said he'd hidden it away in a cave on some asteroid near the Source Wall."

"Indeed, it would not do to leave something like that simply lying about. I trust that when he finds it, he will bring it straight to us? We are equipped to hold it securely."

"I'm sure he will." After exchanging a few more comments, Ganthet closed the connection.

"Are you sure about that, Hal?" asked John Stewart. "Ragnar didn't seem too inclined to leave the Doomsday body with anybody, before. Acts like it's his responsibility."

"We, er, may need to exercise a little friendly persuasion there, John. I, for one, don't feel comfortable with that monster, even in a comatose state, just lying around anywhere in this entire quadrant, let alone here on Earth. And the Guardians are certainly more capable than we are of keeping it secure. After all, that's their job." And then, he thought, if these New Gods should make an issue of it, let them duke it out with the Guardians. Just not here on Earth. Maybe that was selfish of him…

"Hal? Is it just me, or do the Guardians seem inordinately concerned about Ragnar's golden ring? I mean, it's just another power ring, right? We don't know what emotion it's connected with, but I'm sure that'll get sorted out. So why the fuss?"

"I…don't know, John. Yeah, I kinda got the impression, too, that they're overly troubled by it, but as to why, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it's just that it's the only one? But no, Larfleeze's ring is the only orange ring, so that doesn't figure… of course, the white ring is a different matter altogether…and they don't seem all that concerned about it. I don't know. Maybe in due time, we will. Meantime," he smirked again, "let's go get ready for Gardner."

But even as he said it, he couldn't help but wonder. What wasn't common knowledge among non-ring wielders was that the power rings they used actually amplified their corresponding emotion. Thus, the yellow rings not only fed off fear, but increased the user's ability to feel fear. The Star Sapphire's rings were not only strengthened by love, but enabled the user to feel greater love, to a greater degree. And the red rings of rage, fueled by anger, increased the anger already within the wielder of the ring. Guy Gardner had been exposed to two different kinds of rings: one, the green of willpower, which had the side effect of enhancing his own willpower through continuous exercise of it, and the red of rage. That combination made him a formidable foe.

So what emotion, what factor, could Ragnar's gold ring be associated with? What emotion was it, even now, amplifying within him?

…..

Mt. Justice: Wonder Girl found Nightwing crouched over his console, still doggedly going over what little information they had regarding the—possible- death of Batman. J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, had tasked him with the seemingly impossible task of determining whether or not Bruce Wayne—aka Batman—was actually dead. True, they'd all seen the body, even buried the body, but some recent events had led them to believe that the body they'd buried hadn't been the Batman. "Found out anything?" Cassie Sandsmark knew it was probably useless to ask that; even if he had, she doubted he'd share it with anyone outside of J'onn. Still, a girl could hope.

Head shake. "Nope. I'm running around in circles, Cassie. I've gone over the genetic tests—they test out—" Cassie Sandsmark was one of the very few superheroes who knew Batman's civilian identity—"so that would seem to be conclusive. But…"

"Don't tell me, let me guess: you've a hunch, right?"

"Exactly. I just can't shake the notion that the whole thing's a setup."

"But it makes no sense. Bru-, I mean, Batman couldn't have known he was gonna get zapped by Darkseid's Omega beams; how could he possibly have prepared for that? How could anyone?"

Dick sighed, sitting back in his chair. "Cass, I'm exploring the possibility that Batman isn't the one who planned all this. I mean, yeah, he could've had plans in place to 'retire,' someday—but, if he's alive, he almost certainly didn't do all this by himself. It's like a suicide getting rid of his own body. How?" A pause. "And, if that's true—and, to be honest, it sounds like somebody's paranoid fantasy, actually, or the plot of a cheap suspense movie—then that means he didn't necessarily make himself disappear. Maybe he had help. Or maybe I should put quotes around that: 'help.' After all, we know Darkseid's Omega beams can also transport people, as well as disintegrating them. And the genetic evidence would be child's play for someone like him to fake."

Her eyes widened. "You think Darkseid might've kidnapped him?"

He shrugged. "It's a possibility. I hope I'm wrong, but…thing is, if I am, then the only other conclusion is that he's dead. Rock, meet hard place." He sighed. "If he's a prisoner of Darkseid….Cassie, I hope God will forgive me, but I would almost rather he be dead than that."

Cassie nodded. "I hear ya. So which one are you leaning towards?"

He shook his head tiredly. Sometimes she wondered how he did it. The sheer amount of mental effort would've been off-putting to almost anyone else.

Anyone but Batman.

Then he surprised her. "Any word from our two love birds?" Meaning Ragnar Rok, the Gold Lantern, and M'gann M'orzz, aka Miss Martian.

"No." She smiled. "Last I heard, they were nearly at the Source Wall. Ragnar said he'd hidden the Doomsday body in some asteroid there. Megan didn't say much, just that they should be back anytime." A bit of a dirty smile. "Of course, I suppose no one could blame them if they took just a little longer. Took the scenic route, if you know what I mean." Wink, wink.

Richard Grayson grinned. Megan Morse, as she was known on Earth, was pretty much socially enculturated for the present age, even if she had "learned" about Earthly ways from watching an old TV sitcom. But he could only imagine the confusion that the total innocent that was Ragnar Rok must be undergoing. Not that he doubted for one moment that Megan wouldn't make an outstanding teacher…"Well, I hope they don't dally too long. Normally, I wouldn't care, but anything involving that monster just makes me nervous. Which reminds me: what about our Doomsday? How's he holding up?" Referring to the heroic Doomsday from an alternate timeline, who'd joined their group, unofficially, after their last adventure.

"Bored stiff. He's already played all the chess he can stand, he says, plus every video game we've got, watched every episode of Game of Thrones so often he can recite the dialogue by memory, and now he's taken to Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon card games, just to have something to do. Conner took him out the other night, after dark, of course, just to show him around a little. They started to go into a Comic-con, but…" She bit her lip.

"'But'?"

"Rose was there."

"Oh, god. She didn't cause a scene, did she?"

"Conner says he doesn't think she saw them. And it may've been to their advantage. Doomsday was so bored he wanted to attend the convention, but how on Earth could anyone possibly think that's a costume he's got on? I mean, the guy's like nine feet tall. That's hard to fake. So maybe it's a good thing she scared 'em off."

Nightwing thought about that for a minute, especially the part about Rose Wilson, aka Ravager, scaring off Doomsday. Well, he thought, with a slight smile, if anybody could do that, it would be her.

Aloud, "Okay, good deal. But let Conner know we need to be more careful. I know Doomsday's invulnerable, but we still need to keep him under wraps until we can figure out some way of, I don't know, re-introducing him—or introducing him, I should say—into society. He's a little too distinctive to just throw out there and claim it's a casual resemblance." By now, all the superheroes knew of the alternate Doomsday, and, while many were not comfortable with him, most had come to a kind of acceptance. This wasn't the monster that had terrorized worlds, but another creature altogether. And although he was very different from anyone they'd ever encountered, they were willing to accept him on a provisional basis.

Every superhero on Earth knew what it was to be the outsider, the pariah, in the world of humans.

Right now, Doomsday was in the downstairs area, one they kept specifically for those individuals or for those meetings that should be kept away from the public eye. He was seated on the floor in front of the giant screen TV set, hunched forward in his cross-legged position, clicking away with the tiny-looking remote control in his hand.

"This just in: the Justice League has pledged a combined total of one billion dollars to famine relief in Central Africa…

"Come on, darling, you know you want it as much as I do….

"Now we add a little oregano to the mix….

"Badges, senior? We don't need no steeeenking 'badges'!

"Protesters marched today to protest the anniversary of their protest at the protest…

"It's gonna be legen—wait for it—dary…

"Bazinga!

Finally, the monster clicked off the TV in what approached disgust. It was all the same old stuff, all the time. Even the sports channels…and there were so many commercials! Well, he guessed they had to eat, too.

But he was still so bored he could chew nails. Of course, with him, that was doable, but he saw nothing to be gained by doing so.

How did these people stand it?

…..

"Hey, Guy. Welcome back." Both Hal and John were at the receiving area to greet Gardner when he arrived.

Guy Gardner glanced at them with his customary sneer. "Yeah, I just bet. You two've been havin' a high ol' time here, without me to ride herd on you. Well, all that's over with."

Hal glanced at John. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." Gardner said the last word in a mocking sort of way. "You don't really think the Guardians sent me back here just to kick up my feet an' watch TV, do ya? Oh, no. I'm to keep an eye on you two. You let Doomsday, of all creatures, get completely freakin' away-and jus' how the hell do you lose Doomsday, is what I wanna know-lost this punk with the golden ring, and apparently couldn't even handle a couple of Black Lanterns without help." He stood in front of them, crossing his arms. "So I'm the 'help.' No more slacking off for you!"

"Now, hold on!" began John Stewart heatedly.

"An' I hear there's yellow lanterns in the area, and what're you two doin'? Standin' here gawking like a couple a' wusses. What, you think they're gonna politely knock on your door and ask you if they can pretty please terrorize your star system?" He hefted his bag. "First thing I'm doin', once I get settled in, is gettin' out there and startin' a search pattern. I'm not givin' these murderers a chance ta do their thing, not on my watch. And as for you…." Here his sneer became more prominent, "maybe a little less Call o' Duty and more attention to duty, hm?" And with that, he turned his back on them both and headed down the hallway towards the dorms.

Hal and John just looked at each other. "Yep," said Hal, "same ol' Guy."

"He has had his shots, hasn't he?"

"I hope so. At least he wasn't foaming at the mouth. Like last time."

…

Sinestro was becoming increasingly perturbed. It was a condition he really didn't like.

Fact: Ragnar Rok had, at one time, wielded the yellow light of fear.

Fact: He no longer did so. He now, by all reports, used a golden ring, with a golden light, origin and effect unknown.

Fact: Said ring had proved effective against Black Lanterns, even if it had had to be reinforced with the will of others. He shrugged. That was to be expected, in some cases, especially with young, inexperienced power ring users.

Fact, or perhaps strong rumor would be a better term: There was rumored to be a cosmic entity associated with this golden light. A cosmic entity whose avatar was that of a little girl. No doubt, thought Sinestro, to reduce their suspicion and fear, although exactly why any cosmic entity would wish to assuage any mortal's fear was a matter he'd have to cogitate upon. Later.

The three of them hovered over the house where Tommy Walker lived. It was nighttime, and the lights of the house were off. "Remain here," he told them. "I will go find out what the child knows. Let no one see you, but see to it that we are not disturbed. Understood?"

"Yes, milord."

"Yes, master."

Tommy Walker was sleeping fitfully when a soft yellow radiance entered his room. Awakening, he stared at the tall, red skinned man with the moustache. At first, he'd thought it was his friend, the man with the gold ring, but this person was not him. "Who-who're you?"

Sinestro half-knelt in front of the child. "A friend. I need to ask you some questions. Just some questions, and then I'll be gone. Will that be alright?" Although Tommy felt afraid of the red-skinned man, he seemed okay. Sorta.

"O-okay. I, I guess that's okay. Wh-what do you want to know?"

Sinestro smiled. Yes, this one felt fear, and just enough so that he would be unlikely to lie, and such as would assist in his memory, but not enough to cripple him for questioning. Even without the power of his ring, Thaal Sinestro was a maestro at controlling and using people's fear levels. Too little and they got foolish. Too much, and they became gibbering idiots. Just enough, especially coupled with a hint of calm reassurance… "A short while ago, you encountered a young man who used a golden power ring, did you not?

"Y-yes…"

"What, exactly, did he do?"

Tommy thought. He'd thought a lot about the strange man with the golden ring in the time that had passed. "I…He…Something happened to me. My, my mom…" And here he started crying, softly, "She…she died. No, she was killed. But, it did something to me. It…put me away, somehow. I don't know how else to explain it. And he…did something. There was something bad inside my head, an' it's like he…made it go away."

"I see. Did he use his ring to do this?"

"No. I mean, I don't think he did. He just put his hand on my head and…." He trailed off. "Thing is….I know it sounds crazy, but it's like I can still feel him in my head, somehow. Not like he's watching me or anything, but…." The child's words failed him here, as he couldn't describe the feeling himself.

"I see." And Sinestro did see. Using both his ring and his own near-supernatural senses, he could sense something in Tommy Walker's mind, not another mind in itself, but something like a holograph of a person, one that held much more than a mere image. "And you've dreamed about him?"

"Yeah. I kept dreaming he went to this big wall hanging in space, a huge scary wall with all kinds of faces, monster faces, stuck in it. Only they weren't just faces. I mean…"

Sinestro put up a placating hand. There was no need to get into such a detailed description of what was obviously the Source Wall. "Were you afraid?"

"Yeah. I still am. Something about the wall….it does something, or something behind it does something. We should all leave it alone. But I dream, I dreamed he went there an'….did something. I don't know what. But something happened. Something bad."

"I see. Now, Tommy, listen very closely to what I'm about to say. Answer me as truthfully as you know how; it's very important.

"Did anything come out of the Wall?"

Tommy sniffled. Memories of his mother were still fresh on his mind, though now he could deal with them better. "No. Not like…not like you or me. But something happened. Nothing came out but….you know how, when you throw rocks in water, it makes ripples? Well, it's like that. Something happened." He shrugged. "I don't know any other way of putting that."

"That's alright, Tommy." Sinestro rose to his feet. "You've been very helpful. I'll be going now."

"Are you a friend of his?"

Sinestro smiled ever so slightly. "You could say that." It just wouldn't be true. "We….used to work together." He turned to go.

"The ring's the key."

Sinestro stopped in mid-launch. Looked back at the little boy on the bed. "What? What did you say?"

"The ring. His ring. It has to stay on his finger. It's the key."

"The key to what, Tommy?"

"Pain."

To be continued…