Chapter 2: Atrocity Part One.
The assembled group waited impatiently, and nearly an hour later, the Guardians turned to face them. They all held their breaths. The tension in the air could be felt as each and every person waited. Several eyes peered down at them. It was another couple of moments before one of the Guardians offered them the courtesy of speaking.
"We have reached a decision. We never thought this information would need to be divulged. There have been whispers of the return of Atrocitus over the past number of months, but we dared not believe them. Yet, after interrogating this prisoner, what little information we could gather indicates that this violent cult leader has returned. He has escaped his prison, even if we had been assured that there was no way out."
The obvious question had to be asked by someone.
"What do you mean there was no way out?" Superman asked the Guardians.
"The last time we saw Atrocitus was thirty five years ago, as we had noted earlier," one of the guardians explained. "It should be only be appropriate that you ask this question Superman, because his final devastating campaign took place on Krypton."
Superman had no idea about this and offered for them to continue. Kara looked intrigued. Every single inquiry she had about Krypton and if their sector had even been patrolled had been stone walled by the Guardians. The information was classified, so naturally her full attention was on what the Guardians were telling them.
"Krypton was an interesting planet, as they had isolated themselves from a great deal of the universe, despite being ahead of their time," he continued dryly. "There sector was not one that was in the jurisdiction of the Guardians of OA, and they refused membership in the Green Lantern Corps. Atrocitus assumed that this was due to the fact that they had hostile intentions towards us. Rather, it was just a similar clash of philosophies, and one that would not have allowed a working relationship with us."
"Yet, Atrocitus thought he could have allies," Green Lantern summarized. "But that didn't go as he planned."
"Yes, and when he found out that Krypton would not consent with joining in his campaign of bloodlust, he lashed out against them. It was a short, but bloody spectacle. It was fortunate that Krypton had an able hero that was able to stop them, even if the price on both sides was steep. It is our professional opinion that Atrocitus left his mark, and contributed much to the long term planet instabilities that lead to its destruction.
Both Kryptonians eyes narrowed and they recalled the death of the planet. Kara was affected more so by this, due to actually remembering the planet. This did not undercut how much Superman felt the pangs of his lost home world.
"Who was this great hero that stopped him the first time?" Flash asked. "He would have to have a name, right?"
There was a bit of a pause, and the Guardians nodded.
"His name was General Zod."
Kara did a double take, and her eyes narrowed with fury. She thought for a moment her ears failed her.
"You're kidding me right?" Kara inquired. Her eyes remained narrowed. She kept her voice neutral, but there was an undercurrent of hostility dripping from it. "General Zod is anything but a hero. And how do we know that Atrocitus was not brought there the first place by Zod for one of his campaigns? If my timeline is right, it wasn't that long after that Zod got kicked off of Krypton for staging a coup, a year or so later I think."
"What Zod did after that point is irrevalant to the discussion at hand," one of the Guardians said.
"Yes, well your hero burned down the entire countryside of Argo and toasted all life on it," Kara said bitterly. "And killed several of my friends, but it's not like you intervened with anything."
She looked upset. Harry placed a hand gently on his wife's shoulder to calm her down.
Nothing seemed to add up.
"Maybe that battle got to him," Hawkgirl suggested.
Kara scoffed, like she seriously doubted it.
"Kara, we know Zod's…well he was unbalanced," Superman said, and Kara gave him a look that clearly told him he had no idea. "But he must have done some good. He could have been respected enough to…"
"Yeah, well you don't know about Zod, that was before you were born," Kara argued stubbornly. Harry put his arms around his wife, and calmed her down a little bit. Kara took a deep breath and spoke in a softened voice. "Everything was a calculated move to get him more power."
The members of the Justice League looked at each other.
"She could have a point," Green Lantern said grudgingly.
"Whether or not she has a point about what Dru-Zod may or may not have done is irrelevant," a Guardian said. "The fact is that we were assured that Atrocitus would not have escaped from this Phantom Zone. Therefore, he must have found a way out, which is most concerning."
"Or someone busted him out," Green Lantern offered.
The Guardians considered this.
"Yes, that is not a possibility we should discount," one of the Guardians agreed. They all took a deep breath. "It is possible that Atrocitus has a small, but dedicated group of loyalists that wish to keep his crusade alive. He may still be imprisoned; it may just be an attempt for these men and women to spread discord. Our prisoner seemed to be uncooperative on the manner, but should we find out any further information in interrogation the entire Green Lantern Corps will be briefed."
"Are you certain you haven't found out anything more?" Harry asked. "About the Green Lantern that was butchered just by being connected with you guys."
"You ask questions that are above your station."
The Guardians should have known Harry would not let the matter drop.
"Yeah, well I think we all deserve answers," Harry argued fiercely. "Why does Atrocitus seem to have it in for you? There has to be a reason. You did mention something about a dark day in the history of the Green Lantern Corps. Yet, there has been nothing spoken beyond that. So, again, I ask, what are you hiding?"
The Guardians looked down at them.
"Our previous champions the Manhunters had a regrettable programming glitch," Ganthet said darkly, ignoring the looks he was getting by his fellow Guardians about speaking this information. "They went rogue, and before we could shut them down, they destroyed several planets. There were survivors, but that particular cluster of planets was called the Forgotten Zone."
John and Kilowog exchanged a look. This was brand new information for the both of them.
"So you thought you could sweep the problem under the rug," Kara said.
"Yeah, that's typical," Harry said dryly.
"We did no such thing, we reached out to survivors, but Atrocitus was harsh and unreceptive to our Olive Branch. His people were all wiped out, and he saw them all die. The rage he suffered was beyond peer. As the last of his kind, he allowed the most violent emotion that a being could suffer escalated to unprecedented levels. His rage and hate for us inflamed others. Whether or not they had lost, Atrocitus made sure to take them under his wing and manufactured a weapon."
Everyone nodded, but some of the assembled group looked up the Guardians with a great deal of skepticism.
"A patrol has been set up to look for any such activity. If these Red Lanterns do try and attack on Oa, they will be dealt with and taken off for trial. Then we will get some answers whether or not this Atrocitus rumor is a hoax. Thank you for your time and the evidence you have presented. You are all dismissed."
Kara, Harry, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl, Superman, and Kilowog all took that as their cue to leave.
"So, I guess the situation is solved, if your bosses got the heads up," Flash said, but he got some rather cross looks from Harry and Kara. "I guess it's not that simple."
"It's never that simple," Green Lantern said.
"I'm not sure if they are taking this situation seriously," Superman commented.
"Oh, I'm sure they're taking it seriously," Green Lantern argued fiercely.
Kara just shook her head. She took a breath and began to speak in a serious tone of voice.
"At least as seriously as they should be, they did seem to be rather dismissive of this entire Red Lantern thing. They think it's a myth, but you should have seen the look on the faces of those villagers."
"Terror does not begin to even cover it," Harry said in a quiet tone of voice. "And those Red Lanterns tried to blow up a planet, just so they could make a clean getaway."
"There's nothing clean about a getaway like that," Green Lantern retorted. "I don't know…intergalactic terrorists at their finest. The Green Lantern Corps could stop them."
"They have killed before, and they could kill again," Kilowog said, speaking up for the first time.
"Butchered was the word used, stained in their blood," Harry stated darkly. "Intergalactic terrorists would be a good description of what these Red Lanterns are. Each and every one of them is extremely dangerous, and….I just hope the Guardians know what they are doing. There are some situations where sometimes following things by the book aren't going to work. You got to think outside the box."
"Yeah, well you two need to learn that there are rules to be followed," Green Lantern remarked, and he turned to Harry and Kara. "They are in place for a reason…"
"Yeah, but sometimes you got to bend a few of them," Kara argued, not backing down at all and neither was Harry. "And a rule that hurts more people than it helps, is that one you're willing to follow?"
"I spent an entire year of my life following the rules of someone sent by my government," Harry said quietly. "It's in the past, but they thought they were doing well. They were following things by the book."
Superman sensed some tension, so he tried to do his best to bring everything back to a less than hostile situation.
"We could really go around in circles about this entire debate," Superman said warily.
"Yeah, we could," Hawkgirl agreed. "The type of passive resistance that the Guardians are putting up, that's not going to work for long. You heard them. The Red Lanterns are motivated by rage."
"We heard them, we all heard them," Green Lantern stated roughly. He drew breath and continued, "The problem is not to escalate this situation. It snowballs downhill, and no one can handle it."
Superman was rather silent at this point and he looked off into the distance. Kara took a few steps towards her cousin.
"Something bothering you, Kal?" Kara asked him.
"Do you think that Atrocitus was partially responsible for what happened to Krypton?" asked Superman to Kara. "The Red Lanterns you fought, they had a machine that would blow up a planet. What if they were partially successfully at damaging Krypton's core and everything just…"
"I don't know, from what I could tell those instabilities were around for years," Kara said, eyes shut. It did give her something to think about. Krypton blew up, took out Argo, and many lives had been extinguished. "But it could not have helped at all. I'm upset about this as much as you are, but…it's kind of hard to figure out what happened. It would have been about nine years in between the Red Lantern visit and the destruction of Krypton."
The entire group walked around outside. Kilowog turned his attention to Harry and Kara.
"I believe I had an assessment report to give to the two of you regarding your training," Kilowog commented gruffly.
"Yeah we were a little late," Harry offered him.
"Not without good reason," Kilowog said to both of them.
He looked at the two trainees. There was a moment of silence.
"So what's the damage?" Kara inquired.
Kilowog chuckled before he gave his assessment.
"Well, most of the damage has been done in the first month. You're still a bit rough around the edges, and there's room for improvement. But your teamwork is your strength. One on one, I'm acknowledging that you two could take most new trainees. A veteran Lantern would stomp you, but you're creative enough to make 'em sweat a little bit. So yeah, you've improved by leaps and bounds in the past three months. Had some tough times, and I thought there were a couple of times where you might have quit. But I guess you two are just too stubborn to learn the meaning of that word."
Harry and Kara just exchanged grins at this. They were pegged rather well. Perseverance was always a strong suit of them both of them, and they could not be happier with the fact this shined through in this assessment.
"I don't know if the Guardians were impressed enough, even with the mostly glowing review I gave you," Kilowog continued. "Your diplomacy needs a bit of work, but I guess old habits die hard."
"Yeah, well I haven't actually got along with authority figures ever," Harry said.
"Well really your hand to hand is acceptable," Kilowog continued. "So if you ever get in a situation where your powers are useless, at least you won't be that helpless. All and all, a rather decent run for both of you, and most importantly you survived. You could have done better, but you could have done much worse. You'll be out of here, and there's only a small chance you may be called back. But don't be waiting around for it."
Harry and Kara remained silent. They had an idea that they would turn it down anyway. While the three months they spent here had been enjoyable, they did want to return home. It was nice to get out and explore the universe, but they missed the feeling of home that came with Earth.
"Don't worry, we won't be," Harry said.
"Best of luck to the both of ya," Kilowog concluded. "You can really clear out of here at any time."
Kara and Harry both mentally celebrated. The training was over, but they would be happier if it was not for the Red Lantern specter looming over them.
"So that wasn't as bad as you two feared," Superman said. "Seems like you did well."
"They did," Green Lantern agreed in a grudging voice.
"I'd just celebrate a bit more if there weren't murderous Red Lanterns out there," Harry said darkly.
"Likewise," Kara contributed.
Flash just nodded.
"Can't see how anyone would blame you."
"Yeah, but what can we do about it?" Hawkgirl asked. "The Guardians really have dismissed us, and they're not fessing up any more answers."
"So, I guess it's time to head out, and hope that those two incidents were isolated," Flash said.
Superman turned towards Kara and Harry.
"So, ready to go you two?" Superman asked the two of them.
"In a minute, there's something we got to take care of," Kara answered, and Harry got her implied meaning.
'You know, that Red Lantern prisoner, I have a feeling he knows more than he's letting on,' Harry projected to Kara through their mental link.
'I got that feeling too,' Kara thought, grabbing his hand tightly. 'Why don't we have a few words for him?"
'Why not, it's not like I'm going to win any points with most of the Guardians anyway,' Harry thought, barely able to conceal the smile on his face.
'That's really a loss,' Kara thought sarcastically. 'We'll see what this guy knows, if he knows anything.'
The two moved off to leave the Justice League standing there.
"Why do I have the feeling that they're going to do something reckless?" Hawkgirl asked the other two League members.
Superman just winced. He just hoped Kara and Harry did not cause an intergalactic incident.
"They'll be fine," Flash stated in a reassuring voice. "Likely just seeing the sights one last time."
"Yeah, but maybe we should tag along to make sure," Green Lantern suggested.
Once again, Superman had to wince. The intergalactic incident was bad enough, but treating both of those two like children was not going to end well at wall.
"No, we have to trust them, trust that they'll be back," Superman said. "They're adults, like it or not, and old enough to make their own decisions.'
The Red Lantern sat in the prison cell. A disinterested look was on his face. His power ring was barely charged, and those who captured him ensured that he would be separated from his power source. The cell would keep him even if it was not separated. The Guardians talked to him for an hour, but he remained calm and unhelpful.
Their interrogation tactics left much to be desired.
The prisoner shifted at the sound of the footsteps. A twisted grin appeared on his face. He saw the two Blue Lanterns that had captured him.
"Well, the Guardians didn't pry any info from me, so they decided to send their little pet experiment, did they?" the Red Lantern asked in a bored voice. "Well, I'll save you two precious moments of your life that you'll need. I wouldn't tell you anything, even if I wanted to."
"You won't tell us anything, would you?" Harry asked. "You know your comrades; they did leave you for dead."
A twisted grin appeared on the Red Lantern's face.
"I would have done the same thing," the Red Lantern retorted. He looked at Kara and Harry, seriously. "The universe is a cutthroat place. I'm just going with the flow. Don't worry. Whether or not I live, you'll see many more members of the Red Lantern Corps before too long."
"What do you mean by that?" Kara demanded hotly.
"Feisty little thing, I like that," the Red Lantern said, and he looked Kara over. Harry stepped forward, to give him a warning glance. The Red Lantern chuckled. The young man looked at Harry, "She's yours? Well one thing I can't fault you is for taste. But let's see how spirited she is when Atrocitus gets his hands on both of you."
"So there is an Atrocitus and you've been in contact with him!" Harry yelled at the prisoner.
"Did I say that?" the Red Lantern said in a bored voice. "My my, you two are quick on the uptake. Almost as quick as the Guardians, when their little Manhunter experiment went rogue, because it was mere weeks before they decided to get off their pathetic posteriors and do anything about it. But, you got a lucky shot. Both of you are nothing special. And I can hardly wait for your utter demise."
Kara was about ready to reach through the bars and strangle him, but she restrained the impulse.
"Do you really think that Atrocitus will let you out of that cage with your own head intact?" Harry asked.
The Red Lantern paused, and decided to enlighten Harry on the facts of life.
"It wasn't about me living or dying. It's never been about that. It's never been that for any of us. We've been fighting for the same purpose. All of us are willing to die to see the Guardians, Green Lanterns, Blue Lanterns, or any kind of Lanterns go down with the ship. They will finish us off, or we'll take them all down. Either way, we'll win. And Atrocitus will not be pleased about my failure. Yet, my failure is merely just one speck of the grand scheme of the universe to his master plan."
"Just what is his master plan?" Kara demanded, getting a bit annoyed.
"Temper like that, you could be material for the Red Lantern Corps," the Red Lantern said, leering at her once again. "Tell me though, you must be Kryptonian. I can tell, well bred, powerful under a yellow sun, and highly proud."
"It's not any of your business what I am!" Kara replied and she picked up a rock, before she crushed it into her hand for emphasis. "But you're this close to testing my patience."
"Just tell us what we need to know," Harry continued roughly.
The Red Lantern in the cell chuckled. This lasted a minute before he turned to Harry and Kara with a challenging look on his face.
"Or else, I take it. Or else what? Take my ring away, well it's not like I care. Maybe you'll execute me. Lock me in a cell. I'm already there. What more can you do to me that those Guardians haven't already done yet?"
The Red Lantern seemed sufficiently pleased he called Harry and Kara's bluff.
Nothing, that's what you can do. I heard you two are to go home soon. I'd take the first ship out of here while you still can. Earth is truly beneath the notice of Atrocitus. And just as a courtesy warning, if he sees any Kryptonians here, he will ensure that they are extinct as he should have been."
"His plan is to kill countless, just to avenge his own loss," Kara said in a disgusted.
"An eye for an eye," the Red Lantern retorted. "The Guardians could have stopped this problem at any time. Yet, they tried to run the show. They sent their Manhunters after people who did not fall into line. And it led to this. You do create your own monsters. And Atrocitus is one."
"Yet, you follow him," Harry said to the Red Lantern.
He was unable to wrap his head around the logic of that. The Red Lantern leaned back against the wall of the cell. Bored and rather disinterested at everything that was being said to him.
"This isn't one of those hero speeches that's already been played out throughout the universe, " the Red Lantern said in a bored tone of voice. "It was either kill or be killed out there. Atrocitus gave me an outlet for my vengeance. And I took him up on that offer. I do not regret it. I do not regret putting on this ring. He'll come when the time is right. He has amassed a group, no an army."
"The Guardians have made many powerful enemies," Kara replied, closing her eyes.
"Very intelligent of you to come to that conclusion," the prisoner offered dryly. "But true, they created their own monsters. And in this case, they're creating their own executioners."
"Atrocitus is coming later tonight," Harry said suddenly.
The prisoner looked absolutely startled at that sudden revelation that Harry made.
"How did you know?" the Red Lantern demanded.
"Stray thought I picked up from your mind, but thanks for confirming it out loud," Harry stated, and he turned to Kara. "We've got to warn them."
"Warn them, yeah warn them, so they can prepare their last will and testament."
Kara and Harry ignored the prisoner and rushed off to warn the Guardians.
"The Red Lanterns are far larger than the Guardians thought," Harry whispered to her in an undertone.
"Yeah, it's…it's not just a group of fanatics," Kara added breathlessly. "Atrocitus has gathered an army it sounds like."
"Yeah, and they're willing to fight to the death," Harry said.
Harry and Kara stopped, and listened to arguing voices. They tensed up, and slumped behind a stack of crates to get a better idea what was being said.
"The entire Manhunter situation is what caused this in the first place, and you're proposing we give them the orders to defend against Atrocitus.
"The Manhunters have been taken off duty, but they still are powerful weapons and would mean no blood from the Green Lantern Corps would be shed."
"The vote has been cast, it will be done by a narrow margin. That way we do not have to recall any of the Green Lantern Corps from their sectors."
Harry and Kara both cringed at this news. The Guardians were too busy arguing that they did not see the couple slip past and out the door of the prison complex.
The same thing was on both their minds, the Guardians were about to escalate this situation. If Atrocitus saw the things that murdered his home world, he would attack with supreme rage and a fury beyond all measure.
Blood would rein out throughout the entire universe. That was the dream of Atrocitus. His people were absolutely demolished by the heartless Manhunters. These machines were programmed by the Guardians of Oa, for one objective, and that was to bring in anyone who was breaking intergalactic law. The main fundamental flaw in the programming was that it could not distinguish anything such as intent.
Therefore the Manhunters attacked without prejudice, and it all snowballed. Atrocitus remembered the worlds that were destroyed. The machines went rogue, and billions of beings throughout the universe perished. All at the hands of the Guardians, who shut down the programs and modified them.
It was a bit too late. They gave their apologies for what happened.
Atrocitus found the apologies of the Guardians to be a joke.
"Everyone remain on course for Oa," Atrocitus ordered gruffly. "The foolish Guardians refuse to acknowledge the one mistake that they have made. Instead they wish to sweep me underneath the rug. As if I'm some type of boogeyman that is just a myth. But I'm very real."
The Red Lanterns looked up at their leader, and nodded. They could smell the blood of their hated enemies. Anyone who stood in their way would be annihilated.
"But there is another who has is a target and must be annihilated," Atrocitus continued, and the image of the Kryptonian one of his strike teams fought earlier could be shown. There was many boos and hisses.
Atrocitus waited for them to die down, before he spoke once again.
"This young man resembles the one who helped oppressed me. Allowed for that general to slaughter your brothers and sisters, and arranged for me to be sent into the Phantom Zone where I languished until I was found by my devoted followers. He must pay for the sins of his dead planet with his blood."
The Red Lanterns buzzed with excitement. Atrocitus turned towards the front of his ship, and saw Oa out on the horizon. His rage escalated, and the Red Lanterns could feel it through the rings.
"So, those Guardians have decided to not learn from their mistakes," Atrocitus stated angrily, spotting the Manhunters on the horizon. There were sounds of anger. The leader of the Red Lantern Corps looked at the murderers of his planet with distaste. "So be it, they will pay twice as much. I will annihilate them all, and rip the flesh until blood rains all over the universe."
Red Lanterns all held their rings. They prepared to engage the Manhunters in battle. Many had lost their homes due to these mechanical monsters, so revenge would be in the cards.
"You know what to do when I give the word," Atrocitus concluded grimly.
All of the Red Lanterns nodded and prepared for the onslaught that was near.
"What do you mean they're coming here?"
Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Superman, and the Flash all looked at Harry and Kara.
"What do you think I mean by they're coming here?" Harry asked.
"Here's what Harry means, they're on their way here, they're almost here, there's really nothing we can do to stop them," Kara explained, arms crossed over her chest.
"How soon is on their way?" Hawkgirl inquired.
Harry and Kara both shrugged and took a few seconds to ponder that question.
"Could be a couple of hours, good be a few moments, it really could be any time at all," Harry offered them.
"It really doesn't narrow it down, but that's the best information we can get you right now,' Kara said in an apologetic voice.
The Justice League surrounded each other, and attempted to piece together what was going on.
"So, this little attack, we might not have any time to prepare," Flash said to them.
"The real question is do we let the Guardians of Oa know that there's an attack coming," Superman said.
There was a long pause, and Superman deferred to Green Lantern. The man stood in the background, and pondered the situation.
"We can tell them, but I'm sure they're already taking actions," Green Lantern grunted.
"Actions, yes, we heard them," Kara remarked darkly.
"You mean you were eavesdropping," Hawkgirl said. This was not an accusation, more like an inquiry.
"No actually, we were walking by minding our own business when we happened to hear them talking," Kara said without any remorse. "It isn't exactly my fault that they can't bother to keep their voices down."
"How bad is the situation?" Superman asked. He almost dreaded the answer.
"Oh, it's bad," Kara answered. "Remember the things that caused this entire Red Lantern mess in the first place."
"The Manhunters," Hawkgirl replied, and Kara nodded.
"They've been modified for defensive purposes," Green Lantern said to them. "They have been given limited capabilities, there's no way they could be that much of a danger."
Kara and Harry exchanged a look. Time seemed to stand still as Harry struggled to find the right words to explain this situation.
"Well, you see, that might be well and good for everyone else's safety, but do you not think Atrocitus is going to see red?" Harry asked. "He's going to see those Manhunters, and immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion."
"There's one more thing you should know," Kara added, and she turned to her cousin at this point. "He's got it in for Kryptonians, after that entire getting banished to the Phantom Zone thing . He seems to want to finish the job that the death of the planet started."
Superman took this news in absolute stride. There really was not all that much he could do, except brace himself for the worst. He had been in situations that his life had been on the line, but he had stood up and weathered the storm. This time should not have been any different.
"Whether the Guardians okay it or not, if I see one Red Lantern, they're going down hard," Harry added to them.
This statement got a bit of a stir.
"You can't be serious," Green Lantern said, rounding on Harry.
Harry turned around to look at the older man, eyes narrowed.
"He looks serious," Flash offered, unable to resist.
"Deadly serious," Hawkgirl added.
"The Red Lanterns are a threat to Kara, if Atrocitus intends to finish off Kryptonians," Superman added with a deep breath. "And Harry takes his vow to protect her seriously."
"As you learned the hard way I take it," Hawkgirl said.
Superman nodded. It was a painful lesson, on both his ego and his eardrums, but it was one he needed to learn even if it did hurt. He remained rigid, and tried to see if he could pick up any threats with his enhanced senses.
"I recommend we get these two off of this planet," Green Lantern said, and he turned to Harry and Kara. If looks could kill, John Stewart would be dead. "Not questioning your capabilities, but if there is an entire army of Red Lanterns this is out of your depth and you're not experienced enough."
"Funny, I do recall saving the Earth from not one, but two alien threats," Harry said, stroking his chin in mock thought.
"Yeah, so I think we can handle ourselves," Kara added, challenging anyone to contradict her.
"You'll end up getting yourselves killed," Green Lantern argued, and he turned to Superman. "You should find a way to talk some sense into them."
Superman just gave him a serious expression.
"It's their decision," Superman argued. "Plus, I have a feeling that we're going to need all of the help we can get when this invading force hits hard."
"So is there any chance we can convince the Guardians that this plan reeks of absolute stupidity and poor planning?" Flash asked the rest of the team.
Loud explosions were heard off in the horizon, and the entire group stood up, rather rigid from what they heard. Harry and Kara moved to the forefront. Whatever defense the Guardians put up either was not complete, or was inadequate to properly protect for long.
The entire party caught sight of the explosions, and the red light show high above them. Hawkgirl was the first to break the silence.
"That time ran out a long time ago."
The screams of agony echoed from above, but immediately Harry and Kara jumped and took off in flight without another word. The first fleet of Red Lanterns had arrived on the planet. The large robotic creations known as the Manhunters engaged them. The Red Lanterns and Manhunters pushed back and forth, but it was hard to tell who caused more collateral damage.
"Defeat the Red Lanterns, no matter what the cost," one of the Manhunters droned.
The Potters stopped in mid-air. When anyone ever said those words, it never turned good. Several people screamed below, and the battle continued.
To the credit of the Guardians, the initial defense seemed to have worked. The Red Lanterns retreated for a mere moment, and they did not seem to get onto the planet. Harry and Kara watched breathlessly, and the rest of the Justice League showed up to join them.
"Maybe we don't have to worry about anything after all," Flash said hopefully.
"They're retreating," Hawkgirl commented, peering into the distance. "Something tells me it's not that easy."
Green Lantern squinted, and tried to get an idea of what they were doing.
"Because it's never that easy, they're just testing the defenses!" Green Lantern exclaimed.
He turned the others.
"The Manhunters won't hold against the full force for very long. Atrocitus is out there somewhere, and he's just seeing what the Guardians have left."
"They're willing to fight to the death," Kara remarked grimly, and she watched as the Red Lanterns hammered the Manhunters, risks be damned.
Harry watched as well. Another fleet of Red Lanterns poured in, and the game was afoot.
"Do you think we can take all of them?" Superman asked the rest of the group.
"Probably not, but we don't have much of a choice," Harry replied grimly.
Green Lantern turned to address all of them.
"We don't have to take them, just find a way to keep the Red Lanterns from advancing onto OA," Green Lantern, closing his eyes as he mentally calculated what he needed to do.
"That ship…it looks like the big one," Superman scanned, and he peered through it with his X-Ray vision. He staggered back for a moment. "Powerful energy, red energy, it's almost overwhelming the sheer hatred coming off of it."
The others nodded, but Harry and Kara both looked confused.
"I don't feel anything," Kara replied slowly.
"Neither do I," Harry contributed.
They received looks of confusion.
"I don't know how you couldn't," said Green Lantern, but a loud explosion rang out to interrupt them.
More loud explosions could be heard, and loud crack reverberated in the distance.
"And the Manhunters are down!" a voice yelled from above.
"Wait, wait, the Manhunters are down?" Flash asked frantically. "Aren't they supposed to be your unstoppable machines that laid waste to everyone?"
"Yes, they are," Green Lantern answered dully.
"Heads up everyone," said Superman with a deep breath. "Things are about to get ugly."
The six prepared themselves to fight.
"Send backup, the Manhunters have fallen, the Red Lanterns are here," Green Lantern said. He waited for the communication. "Yes, I realize it's impossible, but it's happened anyway!"
The Red Lanterns poured onto the planet, but they all stepped back and waited for the imposing figure.
The biggest, baddest, and most dangerous of them all showed up, Atrocitus. He stared down the six heroes that stood before him.
"Stand aside, and I'll allow you to live," Atrocitus said roughly. His eyes glowed with red and primal fury "My vendetta is with the Guardians, and you would just be more senseless blood."
"That hasn't stopped you before," Hawkgirl said in a challenging voice.
Atrocitus acted like he hadn't heard her.
"I'm more than willing to let everything and everyone go, including the Kryptonian," Atrocitus replied. His eyes locked onto Superman for emphasis. "The offer runs out in seconds."
Everyone stood their ground. The Red Lantern leader held up a hand, a red glow emitting from it.
"I assumed that would be your answer. Now your blood will be spilled as well."
He motioned for his army.
They were in for the fight of their lives.
To Be Continued in Atrocity Part Two.