"YAAA-HOOOOO!" Zipster hollered as he and Bird raced through the asteroid field, moving so fast they were both mere streaks of orange and yellow light.
"If you two dorks crash into one of those, I am so not cleaning up the mess!" Emerald yelled at them.
Beside her, Indigo snickered. "Don't worry, I'll handle any messes they make." Currently, the seven teens were flying down the length of the solar system's asteroid belt, heading for a particular point where they'd then be going in a straight line to track down their prey. Bird and Zipster were enjoying themselves by racing forward, then doubling back, and rocketing ahead of the group again. Emerald and Indigo were keeping together, wondering and talking about random things that drifted into their minds. Close by, Miss Green and Shield were holding hands as they flew, though neither could understand or explain why, while Ocean was a bit above their heads so as to keep an eye on everyone else.
All of a sudden, their member in pink started to hum a tune, causing the others to look at her strangely.
"Miss Green?" Ocean asked, dropping a bit lower so as to be beside her. "Have you remembered something?"
"Mm, I'm not sure. All I know is that this feels like an adventure we're embarking on, and music without words bubbled up inside my head!"
"Can you hum it again?" Bird asked, slowing down just ahead of them, Zipster joining him a moment later.
The girl started the slow tune over again, and kept repeating it - joined, on the second time around, by Bird singing aloud:
"Bum, ba da dum, ba-daaa dum, bum, ba da dum, da dumm. Bum, ba da dum, ba daa-da dum, da dum, ba da dum, ba dumm." By the end of the fourth round, all of them except for Ocean and Indigo were singing it as well.
"Okay, that's really weird," Emerald stated once they'd finished. "How do so many of us know that song? And why can't we remember any words to it?"
"Maybe it doesn't have lyrics," Bird mused, almost to himself. "What if it's background to a- dang it, what's the word? Moving pictures, on a screen, some longer than others-"
"Television!" Miss Green chirruped. "And movies!"
"Right, that's it! What if we're remembering the music for a movie?"
"Soundtrack," Shield murmured. "I know that word. It's a soundtrack, to something we all must have seen."
Indigo huffed and crossed her arms. "Well, most of us, anyway."
"Aw, don't worry Indi, you'll probably remember something too," their Yellow Lantern smirked.
"Do you think more stuff might come to us? All of us?" Zipster spoke up, a tense look on his face.
"Probably. I mean, we already know that the plague didn't kill us, didn't even have that much time in our systems. If stuff like the soundtrack is already showing up, who's to say we won't recall everything about ourselves?"
Ocean nodded in agreement with Bird's reasoning. "It will likely take certain events to jog particular memories, such as Miss Green's feeling of being on an adventure, and then her humming to trigger the same tune within your minds."
"So why wouldn't you guys have seen the same movie, I wonder?"
"We know Ocean's a fish-boy," Emerald pointed out. "Maybe they don't have movies where he's from."
"But, I look just like the rest of you," Indigo reminded her.
"...Sheltered childhood, maybe?" Bird offered on a whim, and their friend thought it over for a minute.
"That... Fits. I mean, really fits." She finally said. "I think... I got a flash of... a top hat?" None of them quite knew what to make of her image, and the group fell into silence once more, as they covered millions of miles in minutes. After a little while, their rings all let out a harmonic chime, the signal that the figure in white had said would let them know they'd reached the jumping off point for their journey.
"You guys ready to kick these babies into high gear?" Zipster grinned at them, receiving grins and nods in return. "Alright then - charge!"
With seven identical blasts, the teens took off at lightspeed.
-YL-
From the base within the asteroid the youths of Earth had awoken on, the figure in white grinned as the energy signatures from the stolen rings departed the Sol System. Their master's plan was going perfectly - in a week's time, the children would reach Ammrym, and unknowingly bring about the end of all life in the universe.
-YL-
At the end of their third day of flight, all the teens agreed that they needed to stop. Something within their rings provided the seven with the energy they needed to keep functioning during that time, but there was no denying a psychological, if not physical, need for food.
And water.
And a rest.
And probably a bathroom break after those other things.
(Although it did take them all a few moments of consideration after Bird said the word to actually remember what exactly a bathroom was.)
At any rate, they sought out whatever nearest planetoid would be safe to stop on, their rings providing direction. Before locating a reasonable planet, though, the teens found something else: a transport cruiser, under attack from three smaller ships intent on causing chaos and destruction.
"I don't know about anyone else," Emerald growled, cracking her knuckles. "But the sight of something like that wants to make me step in and give those scumbags a lesson in manners." She got noises of affirmation from the others, and then Ocean was snapping out battle orders.
"Shield, Bird, Emerald, go after the pirate vessels and disable them. Miss Green, Indigo, protect the passengers and clear the besieged ship of any invaders. Zipster, you and I will recover any stolen goods from the pirates and then push the civilian craft away to safety. Go!" They scattered.
Bellowing in fury, Shield's method of disabling his chosen target was to ram straight into it, creating multiple teen-sized holes through the outer plating, the interior decks, and the engines. Emerald maintained her distance, using her ring to fire projectile blasts at the various steering mechanisms, snarling insults under her breath all the while. As he cackled in delight, Bird got up close and personal, busting into the command deck of his chosen ship.
"Time for your little payday to turn into some pay-back!" Alien pirates shouted fearfully, bolting from the room as Bird ripped apart all of their control panels and consoles.
Meanwhile, Miss Green and Indigo made a pink and purple blur through the passenger ship, knocking pirates away from terrified civilians and offering reassuring smiles where they could. At one point, while her green skinned companion flew on to deposit captured crooks back onto their own ships, Indigo held up long enough to hand a slightly singed doll back to a sniffling child. She received a hug for her kindness, before returning to her task.
As Zipster made use of both his ring and his natural speed to dash through the pirate vessels, grabbing up goods that obviously didn't belong there (and a few other things besides), Ocean remained out in space, forming three separate slides for his orange companion to toss the recovered items onto. The cargo then went down and back into the passenger craft through holes made by the initial ambush. When Zipster arrived back at Ocean's side, though, the taller teen had to raise an eyebrow at the various foodstuffs, knick-knacks, and weapons following along in an orange bubble.
Zipster caught his look, glanced back and forth between the stockpile and his friend, before shrugging. "What? We already decided we needed food."
"And the rest?"
"Well, I figure that the less well-armed the pirates are, the better!"
Ocean pointed to a game board and accompanying pegs, his dubious expression gaining strength.
The younger teen grinned weakly. "Souvenirs?"
-YL-
"I can't believe you made me give most of that stuff to the civilians," Zipster muttered, scuffing one of his boots against the other in the absence of actual ground. Ocean simply ignored him, joining Indigo and Miss Green in waving farewell to the people aboard the ship they'd just finished saving.
Thanks to translators within their rings, the teens had been able to converse with the captain of the transport vessel, who thanked them profusely. She offered the seven passage to the nearest spaceport, which the youths were forced to decline, as it was perpendicular to the direction in which they needed to go. They explained about their homeworld's inhabitants being wiped out by a monstrous entity, and the mission they'd been set upon to bring the perpetrator to justice. The alien woman's eyes had lit up at that, saying something about finally understanding why so many Lanterns were in one place together.
So, while they were unable to gain a lift, the teens did receive heartfelt gratitude from all the passengers, as well as a bag each to carry provisions in (Zipster, though ordered to give up most of his 'souvenirs', was allowed to keep the game board and tuck it within his new pack). The ship then departed, with a promise to inform local authorities at the spaceport to come pick up the stranded pirates.
"Well, I'm glad that turned out well!" Indigo said cheerfully as they set out once more. Shield grunted.
"Wish I'd gotten to smash things a bit more," he muttered.
"What, that initial charge not enough for ya, big guy?" Bird snickered, then had to duck a swat Emerald aimed at the back of his head.
"Enough," Ocean ordered with a small smile. "We need to make up for lost time. Eat if you wish, and then we'll need to return to travelling at lightspeed."
"Right-o, boss-fish."
-YL-
Entering his apartment with a sigh, Hal didn't even bother heading for bed - he simply flopped face first onto the sofa. Just as the man was approaching the blissful state of sleep, however, his ring chimed.
He rolled over, biting back a groan, and answered the incoming transmission. "Yes?"
*Lantern Jordan. This message is going out to all members of the Corps concerning an incident at the juncture between Sectors 2814 and 2977. Eyewitnesses aboard the vessel Elerdyo reported being saved from an overwhelming pirate attack by a group of seven Lanterns, each bearing a ring of a separate color of the Emotional Spectrum. The origins of this group are unknown, only that they apparently come from a world where the native population was wiped out by a devastating plague, engineered by some unknown entity that the group now pursues in the direction of the Retaris System. The captain of the Elerdyo claimed that they were all young and, as of yet, not enslaved to the emotions of their rings.
*All members of the Green Lantern Corps are to be on watch for this group, for while it is possible they will remain coherent, there lies a far greater possibility that they will be a danger to the universe as they go on. If at all possible, detain these youths, and question how they came by their power rings. End transmission.*
"Sheesh," Hal muttered to himself. "How the hell did seven kids get rings of each color?" Deciding that he'd worry about it if and when the group came anywhere near his sector, the man rolled back over to try and get some sleep.
But, wait, the report said that the incident happened on the boundary of 2814... And that's HERE... Seven kids... HOLY SH-
Eyes snapping open again, Hal banged his shins against the coffee table in his haste to get upright. Dashing back out of his apartment, he put on the Green Lantern ring, taking off into the sky as soon as he was fully in uniform.
"Jordan calling Stewart and Gardner, you guys up?" He transmitted, not bothering to wait.
*Mmph, what it is, Hal?* John's response came back in a half-mumble, while Guy's was a bit more indignant.
*C'mon man, I was just about to get some shut-eye!*
"Did you two just get the Corps-wide announcement about that weird group of Lanterns?"
*The ones that stopped a pirate attack at the edge of our sector? Yeah, what about it?*
"Did anything seem odd about that report to you guys?"
*Uh... No?* Even over the distortion of the rings' communication system, Guy was clearly baffled, but Hal didn't bother explaining his train of thought - he wanted to see if his older comrade could put the pieces together himself.
"What about you, John?"
*...Seven youths.*
"Exactly."
*Whoa, wait, what are you guys talking about?*
"I'm on my way up to the Watchtower to tell the others, and to contact Oa to see if I can get anymore information."
*And if it turns out to just to be a coincidence?*
*If WHAT turns out to be coincidence?! Fellas!*
"One hell of a similarity, if you ask me," Hal growled. "Think about it: the Team vanishes, in such a way that we can't find one damned thing to point at who took 'em, and barely two days a group of seven unknown teenagers stop an act of evil right at the boundary of our territory? Add to it that I can pretty well picture which of those kids certain rings might go to, and I smell something fishy in Denmark."
Guy had finally gone silent, realizing he wasn't going to get an explanation any time soon. John, in the meantime, was clearly mulling it over.
*...If this ISN'T a coincidence, which of us is going to go after them?*
"I will. I've had more experience with other civilizations, and I'll need you to stay with the League so I can provide updates."
*I still have no idea what's going on, but I volunteer to come too, Jordan. That many Lanterns, even if they are just kids, and you'll need back-up.*
For once, Hal was willing to accept Guy's offer of assistance. "Appreciate it, Gardner. I'll let you know when we've got more info and a departure time."
*If it really is the Team, then you know half the League's gonna try and join you two as well.* And sadly, John was once again correct in his assessment of their fellow heroes.
"If push comes to shove, I'll accept two passengers, one each for me and Guy to look after. But it'll have to be people who aren't vital to protecting their cities here, 'cause there's no telling how long a trip like this could take..."
A's N: So, any guesses on what soundtrack the kids remembered? ;)