Same disclaimers as before. Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter 7: The Might of Light

"You have got to be kidding me." Sinestro was floating over the cowering dictator. Behind him was a throne room littered with dead guards. His target, the alien warlord Kanjar Ro was in the fetal position on the throne below him. "You inspire fear in the Guardians? They're loosing their touch."

"Stay back, Lantern!" screeched the frantic alien, "I'm armed!"

"So I gathered," said Sinestro dryly, staring at the dictator's shaking scepter. He had heard before of Kanjar Ro and his fearsome Energi-Rod, but seeing the Dhorrean dictator turn into a sniveling wreck at the sight of his dead bodyguards was enough to convince Sinestro that Kanjar's true power came from his fearsome reputation. As he watched, Kanjar pressed a button on his belt and flickered out of sight, camouflaged from the naked eye. Sinestro sighed and scratched his nose. "I really don't have time for this." He raised his ring, a bright light emanating from the Green Lantern Corps symbol, revealing the hidden secrets of the room.

Kanjar was trying to sneak around him, but Sinestro's light illuminated him. The dictator squealed in fear and raised his scepter, flying towards the ceiling. Sinestro rolled his eyes and formed a great blade with his ring. With a violent swing, Sinestro sliced the Energi-Rod in two. It crackled with electricity as it and it's user fell to the floor. Kanjar screamed as the Energi-Rod began to glow and hum.

"You fool!" he screeched, "The core is unstable!"

Sinestro shrugged and thickened his shield. "Probably should have thought about that when you built it."

Kanjar ran to him and flung himself at the Lantern's feet. "Protect me!"

Sinestro laughed. "You're funny. Why would I protect you?"

Kanjar gapped at him. "But...but the Lantern Code! You must protect the innocent!"

Sinestro leaned down until his face was level with Kanjar's. He raised his ring so it was pointing at the gently pulsing Energi-Rod. "Let me see your hands."

Kanjar stared at him with eyes so wide, his eyeballs threatened to fall out of their sockets. "Are you insane? This whole mansion is about to turned into slag and you want to see my hands?"

"Do it." Sinestro didn't raise his voice, but his cruel smile was gone. This wasn't pleasure anymore, it was business. Kanjar slowly raised his shaking hands for the Lantern to see. He had plenty of rings made of precious metals from around the universe, but none had the inner glow of a power ring. Sinestro nodded. "It would appear you don't have what I'm looking for."

"Please, Sinestro," whispered Kanjar, tears streaming down his face, "I don't want to die."

Sinestro glared at him. "Neither did all the people you yourself have killed, Kanjar. Overall," a small ball of green light formed on Sinestro's ring, "I can't think of a single redeemable thing you've done."

"Sinestro," gasped Kanjar, "The Code!"

Sinestro hesitated and leaned back up, folding his non-ring hand behind his back. "They're more like guidelines," he decided. From the green orb shot a single beam of pure, solid light. The blast hit the two parts of the Energi-Rod and it exploded with the concentrated force of a small sun. Sinestro looked on with indifference as Kanjar Ro burned away before he could even scream.

Kanjar's mansion exploded outwards, spilling over the nearby lush forest and down the cliff it stood on. Amongst the burning rubble, Sinestro floated with his arms folded. His thick shield had protected him from the blast and his resolution had kept him in one place. He was starting to become very disappointed in his assignment.

Not that it was difficult. Rather it was more like a paid vacation, a tour across the universe where he had to run a few, short errands. What troubled him was just how easy it was. These were supposed to be individuals who could inspire fear in the omnipotent Guardians of the Universe. How could anyone with their powers possibly be afraid of these criminals? With a slight shake of his head, he shot off to find his next target.

. . .

Indigo-1 flew through space with a small smile on her face. She had found her newest follower. She hadn't met him yet, but she could feel his presence, his indifference to others.

She didn't know the name of the planet, but it was covered in clouds. As soon as she got below the atmosphere, she was battered by a volley of rain. It was fairly dark, but her indigo staff lit the way for her. She flew down to the planet surface where her follower stood. He was looking down on the body of the woman he had just killed. Her pink blood mixed with the rain and turned the soil to mud.

"I told you not to mess with me," muttered the killer as Indigo-1 landed softly behind him.

"Nok," he turned sharply and stared at the strangely dressed woman with a strange symbol on her chest and a long, glowing staff.

"Who're you?"

"Nok."

"Did you see anything?"

"Nok."

"You didn't see anything, did you."

"Nok."

"What does that mean?"

"Nok."

"Shut up."

"Nok." The killer glared at Indigo-1 and hesitated for a moment. Clearly, this alien woman was insane and incapable of giving him a straight answer. That probably meant that she was incapable of telling the authorities. Still, it was best not to take the chance. Besides, he still had some anger to vent. He roared and charged forward, drawing a knife as he did. The woman ducked under his strike and twirled behind him. "Nok."

"I'll nok you!" he grunted. He lashed at her again and she jumped over him like an expert gymnast. She landed behind him and lightly touched her staff to his head.

It happened in an instant. All emotion was sucked from the killer and absorbed into the staff. Indigo-1 gasped as she was flooded with massive amounts of hate, fear, and greed, but she quickly shook it off. The killer breathed heavily and slowly fell to his knees. "What…what've you done to me?" he whispered. He stared at his hands, still covered in the blood of the woman he had killed. "Please," he said, tears burning in his eyes, "Please undo it. I don't want to feel this, this regret, this…this…"

"Compassion?" Indigo-1 knelt down next to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Nok, brother," she said, "Peace and nok."

"Nok," he replied, "What can I do to redeem myself?" Indigo-1 stood and closed her eyes. The symbol of the Indigo Tribe flashed on her forehead and from her glowing staff erupted a flash of purple light. When the flash was over, Indigo-1 was holding a second staff. She handed it to the killer and from the glowing tip emerged a small, indigo ring. It flew down and slipped onto his finger. He sighed in mild relief as he was filled with compassion for his fellow beings.

"What was your name, brother?" Indigo-1 asked.

"Munk," he replied, "I was Munk. Who am I now?"

Indigo-1 gently kissed him on the forehead. "You're Indigo-2."

"Indigo-2," he whispered happily, "Oh yes, that's nice. Nok."

"Nok." Indigo-1 smiled. Her first follower, the first of many. The true birth of the Indigo Tribe was at hand.

. . .

Komand'r lounged in her throne as her sister pulled it with a bronze harness. Behind her, the Warlord prisoner meditated quietly. They had been traveling for hours and Komand'r was bored out of her mind. She wanted to make life more miserable for her wretched sister, but she also wanted to savor a slow torture. Komand'r sighed with impatience. Oh well, luckily she had another plaything.

"Warlord!" she snapped, "Sing a song of my glorious rise to power!"

The Warlord cracked open one eye. "War songs are only written of epic heroes and often take years or even decades to compose. You want me to recount your treacherous coup with no preparation whatsoever? I am no poet, woman."

Komand'r grinned. "I thought you'd say that." The cage that held the Warlord suddenly became filled with sharp, bronze thorns. The Warlord was far too battle-hardened to cry out in pain, but Komand'r could see the discomfort on his face. She smirked and drew her thorns tighter, digging into her former teacher's skin.

She formed a second line of thorns and made them into a constructed whip. She lashed at her sister's back, ripping through clothes and skin. Koriand'r screamed in pain as her back became wet with blood.

"Faster, sister dear," said Komand'r checking her nails, "If we don't get to this warrior by nightfall, I'll start cutting off limbs." Koriand'r whimpered and desperately tugged at the heavy float.

The Warlord glared at Komand'r with burning eyes. "I can't wait to see him tear you apart," he said through grit teeth, "He'll kill me for simply being in his presence, but it'll be worth it to see you die first."

Komand'r closed her eyes and reclined. "Mmm, tell me about my opponent," she said, stretching her muscles.

The Warlord grinned. "He is a master of combat. He used to be a member of an honorable corps, but now he is the last of his kind."

Komand'r shrugged. "Oh, be still my aching heart." She muttered sarcastically.

"Oh, don't feel sorry for him," said the Warlord, "He killed the entire corps single-handedly."

Komand'r stared at him. "Why?"

The Warlord shrugged. "Nobody knows. I suppose we'll find out."

Komand'r snarled. "It makes no difference. I'll tear him limb from limb." She turned to her struggling sister, "And then we'll really have some fun." A bronze, thorny vine, wrapped itself around Koriand'r's throat and she gave a silent scream of agony. It didn't hurt so much, the thorns had missed fro the most part; no what hurt the most was the knowledge that they still had a few more hours of travel ahead of them and Komand'r's imaginative torture methods could last much longer than that.

. . .

Hal had made the discovery of a lifetime. The Interceptor II a.k.a. the Aya, had an autopilot function that, Guardians be blessed, did not require them to turn on Lame-o. Hal had set a quick course for Talahasse and retreated to the lounge for the duration of the hour-or-so flight. "Two down," he said to himself as he jumped onto the green circular couch, "Five to go. So far, so good."

"Glad you think so." Hal looked up and stood as Arisia entered the room, a bag of healing ice pressed against her head.

"Hey, kid," he said, helping her onto the couch, "You okay?"

"Been better," said Arisia with a small smile, "I've been knocked out before, but that grey light messed with my head."

Hal hesitated. "While you were being controlled by the grey light, you said something about your dad and uncle."

Arisia sighed and gently lay her head back. "My dad was the Green Lantern of our sector. When he died, my uncle got his ring and now it's chosen me to continue the family tradition."

"That's a lot to live up to."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

Hal smiled. "Sort of. My ring belonged to Abin Sur, one of the greatest Green Lanterns in living memory." He decided not to tell her about his suspected involvement of Abin Sur in the genocide of the Martians. Until he could get some more information, that was going to stay between him and Kilowog. The door to the room slid open with a hiss and Razor stepped in to join them.

"Excuse me, Arisia," he said stepping forward, "But I wish to speak with Hal Jordan alone." Arisia nodded and gingerly stood up, clutching her ice bag tighter as she walked out of the room.

"What's wrong, Razer?"

The Blue Lantern sat down across from Hal and picked at the small bag he wore around his neck. From inside, he pulled his old Red Lantern ring. It was glowing softly despite its proximity to Razer's Blue Lantern ring. Hal raised an eyebrow. "You kept that thing?"

Razer nodded. "Yes. Occasionally all this optimism and hope is…overwhelming. The red power ring keeps me grounded in reality." He tucked the ring back into his necklace. "Which is why I need it now. I've been having doubts."

"Doubts? How unlike a Blue Lantern. What about?"

Razer paused and steepled his fingers. "I have heard of Krona. His power...it's supposedly immeasurable. If we are to fight him, we will need all available resources on our side if we want to have so much as a chance to survive."

Hal pressed a button on the side of the table between them. A glass of water lowered from the ceiling and into his open hand. "What's your point, Razer?"

"I know we're here to follow the Guardians' orders, but I can't help but think; what if we could use these new lanterns to our advantage?" Hal looked at him thoughtfully. "That Supergirl with the gold ring, she could have helped us in this battle. The Martian would be incredibly useful in a fight."

Hal sipped at his water. "It's a good plan," he said after a moment's thought, "But we can't do it."

"Why not?"

"Think about it," said Hal, "Supergirl is a teenager. With the power of passion on her side, she'd be unstoppable, but she can't control it. One day, she'd be so consumed with her passion; she might end up hurting someone close to her. And you saw what J'onn did to Denver. He may be able to control his loneliness now, but we can't be sure he won't relapse and lose control again." He held up his ring for Razer to see. "The Guardians chose to give their Corps the power of will because will is easy to control," he explained, "It's hardly even an emotion, more of a state of mind. We Green Lanterns don't have to be angry or happy for our rings to work, we simply will our constructs into being. Other Lanterns don't have that advantage."

Razer thought for a few seconds about that. "I see," he said finally, "Still we should consider my idea an option as a backup in case the worst is to happen."

"Agreed," said Hal. Razer nodded and stood up to leave the room. As he was leaving, Hal took another sip of the water. "You miss her, don't you."

Razer stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Don't you miss your love?"

Hal smiled. "Too true." Razer turned back to leave, but he was barreled over by Kilowog.

"Jordan!" said the giant alien, "You better come see this!" Hal flew up and followed Kilowog to the cockpit. The windshield was covered with holographic screens. Ch'p was running across the controls, trying to process all the channels at once. At the wheel, Lame-o's cube hologram turned to face Hal.

"Well hello there, Lantern Jordan!" he said brightly, "What can I do for you?"

"Not now, Lame-o!" snarled Hal as his eyes scanned the screens. They were Earth news feeds all discussing the same thing. "Ch'p, bring up the one in the corner and full-screen it." Ch'p chattered in exhaustion and used his ring to push the button on the far side of the dashboard. One screen became enlarged and filled the windshield.

"The city of Tallahassee has been put on lockdown by the State of Florida." It was a red-headed woman reporter in a helicopter over a city covered in thick, bright fog. "Early reports show that most of the city has been shrouded in a strange, silvery mist. We have been able to get a few glimpses through the fog with our aerial cameras. So far, all we have seen is little to no movement. The few vehicles we've seen are stationary and all the people are lying down. It is unclear if there are any victims of this strange occurrence." The woman on screen touched her ear and nodded. "I'm just getting reports that a few people have stumbled out of the fog. The survivors are reported to be unresponsive to questions and in a very relaxed state. It is unclear what that means at this time."

Her eyes widened and she turned to the camera. "This just in! Witnesses claim they have seen the superhero the Flash and his young protégé headed from Keystone City in the direction of Tallahassee!" The woman smiled brightly, "It would appear as if the people of Florida have nothing to worry about. For GBS, this is Iris West."

Hal nodded. "That's enough, Ch'p, turn it off." Ch'p complied with a squeak.

"Do you think that the missing ring has something to do with that mist?" asked Kilowog.

"Excuse me, Lanterns," said Lame-o, "But-"

"Shut up, Lame-o. Well, as far as I know it isn't normal for clouds of mysterious haze to randomly settle over Florida cities, so I'm just going to assume it's not a coincidence."

"Lantern Jordan," injected Lame-o, "Your-"

"Shut up, Lame-o! And don't get smart with me, Jordan!" barked Kilowog.

"Luckily, we'll be getting some help from an old friend," continued Hal as if he hadn't heard Kilowog, "It'll be good to see Barry again, but I didn't know he had a sidekick now."

"Lanterns?" asked Lame-o hesitantly.

"WHAT?" shouted Hal and Kilowog simultaneously.

"Star Sapphire Carol Ferris is approaching the ship at a high speed."

Hal blinked in surprise. "Carol? What's she doing here?" There was a flash of violet light and Hal winced. Standing before him on the bridge was a very lovely, very angry looking Carol Ferris, dressed to kill in her Star Sapphire uniform.

"HAL JORDAN! You leave the planet in the middle of our date, and literally only a few hours later I see you on T.V. in Metropolis? Were you planning on telling me you were back on Earth so soon? You've got some explaining to do!"

Hal sighed, his shoulders slouching in despair. "Oh boy."

. . .

Larfleeze clutched his shiny, his lovely. It was his and his alone. Nobody but him could love and cherish his shiny like he could. He wanted it so badly that it was his. All of it was his. He was content to stare at his precious for all of eternity if necessary.

Larfleeze sniffed the air and growled. Intruders! Trespassers outside the cave! They must want his shiny! Nobody could have his shiny! It was his! He scurried around the cave, hiding above the entrance as the intruders walked in.

In the lead was a bloodied and beaten girl who limped severely. She had tears of pain, both inner and physical, running down her orange-skinned cheeks. He looked down on her with a sense of mild pity. Larfleeze almost felt like she wasn't here for his shiny, but he quickly banished the thought. Of course she was here for his shiny! They all were!

The girl was pulling some kind of carriage made of bronze light. Sitting in the carriage was another girl in a bronze outfit with a strange symbol of twin vertical lines with twin circles on her chest. She held a long bronze whip with several pieces of bronze glass sticking out of it. On her finger was a bronze ring. Larfleeze didn't know her and didn't care. She was here for his shiny and therefore must die.

The last intruder was a giant Warlord from the far side of Okaara. He sat in a bronze cage, is eyes darting about nervously. IT was rare that Larfleeze encountered a Warlord; they were usually smart enough to stay far away from his shiny. This one must not have gotten the memo.

"Ugh!" grunted the girl in the carriage, "This place smells like Glorg'non! Let me kill this warrior and get it over with!" The girl pulling the carriage collapsed on the floor at the foot of Larfleeze's pyramid. The other girl looked down on her with disdain. "Oh, are you done already?" The girl flew off of her bronzed throne and drifted into the air. "Fine, I'll continue my entertainment later. For now, I must concentrate on my fight." She flew over the pyramid and her eyes fell upon the shiny. "Hello," she said, "What are you?" She dropped down and stood before the shiny.

Larfleeze growled and crept forward. "That's mine!" he shouted. The girl swiveled and stared at the shadows where his voice came from. He dashed off into another corner. "Stay away from my shiny!"

The girl folded her arms. "You must be the warrior I am destined to fight. Reveal yourself and I promise you a swift end."

Larfleeze crawled up a wall while she wasn't looking. "Get away from my shiny! It's mine!"

"Pffft!" snorted the girl as she turned to face the shiny, "Like I want your stupid shiny." She looked at it for a few moments. "You know what," she said slowly, "I think I'll take your shiny just because I can. Yes, I'll do that." She reached out a hand and Larfleeze shot forward. He grabbed her wrist and tossed her like a sack of potatoes back into her bronze carriage. The carriage shattered like glass. The freed Warlord dashed forwards and knelt by the bloodied girl.

The girl who had almost touched the shiny stood up. "Ah! There you are!" She jumped into the air and formed twin swords made of bronze light. "I'm afraid I must kill you for the true right to rule, and also for your shiny." She hesitated and stared beyond Larfleeze at the shiny. "Mostly for the shiny," she said dreamily, "Yes, that shiny will make a good trophy for my victory."

Larfleeze growled and roared. From his ring burst forth constructs of the entire Orange Lantern Corps, all as raging and volatile as Larfleeze. "What's mine is mine!" he shouted, "And mine and mine and mine and mine and mine! NOT YOURS!"

The girl grinned viciously and raised her fist, showing off her bronze ring. "We'll see about that."

. . .

Thanks for the reviews! Please post more of them, I really feel like getting your feed back and enthusiasm helps my writing process.

I put in a few hints about my last original Lantern in this chapter. As a bonus, here's a bonus hint: the character is in the GLAS cannon, but we never actually see or meet him.