The Gold Corps: Gold Justice, Chapter 10: Search

"Well, this is good news," said Hal. The others looked at him. "What the recording, what your father was doubtless warning us about was the creature we called Doomsday. And Doomsday's already dead. Superman killed him, not all that long ago. So…good news. Whatever this, this gene-mod they put into you is, you won't be needing it, Ragnar."

"Would that it were so, Lantern Jordan," came Ganthet's voice from the ether, the holographic image springing up from Jordan's ring, "but it would seem that the report of the monster's demise was a bit hasty. We have been informed of a…disturbance that can only be attributed to the creature you call 'Doomsday,' which, by the way, is a most fitting pseudonym.

"We have dispatched a strike team to the last known coordinates of the monster's latest depredations. As of yet, they have not reported in." The image paused, as Ganthet gathered his thoughts. "Needless to say, we will require young Ragnar to return to Oa. It is imperative that we discover the nature of this…this weapon his parents implanted within him." The holographic image turned to Ragnar. "Do you have any knowledge of the weapon this recording could have been referring to?"

"No, Guardian Ganthet. All this is, as the saying goes, 'news to me.'" Pause. "Though I am…immensely relieved to discover…what I have." Megan took his hand, smiled up at him. Told'ja! "I will, of course return to Oa. But my friend will probably be needed back on Earth."

Megan opened her mouth to protest, when Hal spoke up. "That's doable. John can escort you to Oa, Ragnar, and I'll take Miss Martian back to Earth. From what I gather, she's overstayed her leave time on this matter already."

….

Oa: Ragnar was poked, probed, and prodded almost to the point of physical injury. Blood (red blood, just like any human's, though of a type the Guardians had never seen before) was drawn by the liter, it seemed. And over and over he was asked the same questions. {{You must know something, young Ragnar. Your father could not have known of your ring; that only transpired later in your life. Has there been nothing at all that you found…curious?}}

"Nothing I can think of. Would that I could. From what you have told me, this 'Doomsday' is definitely a creature we could all live without."

The Guardians conferred. {{Have you run the meson tomography?}} asked one.

{{Yes. He does have a decidedly robust genetic code, but nothing all that outstanding. Not of the sort we are looking for, at any rate.}}

Ganthet cast about for something, anything. He turned to Ragnar, still lying on the examination table. {{Tell me, young one: have you ever been sick?}}

"No, Guardian Ganthet. I have not."

{{Ever? In your whole life?}}

"Never."

{{Any broken bones, contusions, abrasions, anything of that nature?}}

"As a matter of fact, yes. I once broke my arm, when I was much younger."

{{And did your ship's automated systems repair that for you?}}

"No. There was no need."

{{No need?}}

He shrugged, still there on the table. "There was no need. Broken bones don't really hurt that much, and they heal fairly swiftly."

Pause. {{Er, how swiftly did you heal from this injury?}}

"I…don't really know, since I didn't have much concept of time such as other people use. Perhaps a few minutes."

The Guardians looked at each other. {{You healed from a broken bone in a span of minutes?}}

"Yes. Is that unusual?"

Ganthet turned to the rest. {{This may be the key.}} Again, he turned to Ragnar. {{Did this ever happen again?}}

"No. Though come to think of it, I have fallen since that incident, in ways that, in retrospect, probably should have broken bones. But I have never broken another."

{{What have our scans determined about his bone structure?}}

{{His bones are not the same as most other humanoids. They seem to be…of a molecular structure I've never encountered, akin to a carbon-graphene analog. But it is not that; we cannot identify the material; it may be a new substance altogether.}}

Ganthet thought, though he did not share this with the others: It is highly unlikely that they were always that way.

…

Lightray had followed the trail of devastation left by the monster as it made its way from one star to the next. Highfather had been right: the creature seemed to target the most technologically developed worlds. But it was thorough; once it had demolished one world, it would move to the next one, perhaps a bit lesser developed planet.

He was appalled by the monster's sheer insatiable bloodlust. The thing didn't even leave any plants or animals behind it, seeking out and utterly destroying every ecosystem it could. In a couple of cases, it seemed to be intelligent enough to know that disrupting the planet's geological stability could produce the desired effect, that of extinguishing all life on the globe, and had set off several earthquakes, tsunamis, and supervolcanoes. Lightray wondered if the monster was acting on instinct alone, or if it possessed some measure of intelligence. He wasn't sure which theory he found more frightening. What twisted mentality came up with such a creature as this, anyway?

Evidently, the creature had developed some rudimentary power of flight. Lightray wasn't really surprised. But he could track its electromagnetic trail. It led him straight into a thickly-populated asteroid belt.

He was navigating his way through this belt when something unbelievably powerful hit him from behind, and all went dark.

…..

Ping! Ping! Ping! Highfather's mother box chimed the alarm. Izaya looked at the readouts…"Orion, Metron, Uggha…it looks like contact has been established sooner than expected. Prepare yourselves." And he opened a boom tube straight to Lightray's position.

…

Kilowog's strike team was just then entering the star system where the latest projections indicated they'd find Doomsday. It wasn't hard to find; immediately, all their rings began chiming, indicating powerful forces at work in the system's asteroid belt. Inward they plunged, readying themselves for anything.

Lightray floated in open space, his lower half no longer responsive. Doomsday had broken his back. His mother box could heal him, but it would take time, and he doubted the monster would give him that much. A silent flare of light announced the arrival of Highfather and the others. "Hold, creature of evil! Turn and face us!"

"Yes!" roared Orion, speeding towards the thing, "This will be your last battle, monster!" And, heedless of Izaya's calls, he plunged headfirst into the fray.

…

Kilowog's ring was going berserk. There were energies being brought into play here that rivaled that of the Big Bang itself, though not on such a scale. He wisely checked their progress, sending in Zivixx and Rron-El to scout out the situation.

…

Orion was grappling with the monster, hand to hand. While he had more skill, the monster outmatched him in terms of sheer strength. It locked its arms around him in a death-hug…

…and Uggha's thrown hammer struck it from behind, forcing the creature to release Orion. Orion readied a blast of his astro-force…

…and the monster turned, with startling speed, and, snatching up Uggha's hammer, neatly deflected his blast. "I'll be taking that back, creature," snarled Uggha, grabbing his hammer, using his own power to force the monster into releasing it….

…only to have the thing send a powerful electrical charge through the hammer, nearly frying Uggha's nervous system. He couldn't let go. "Ha! Ha!" went the beast, though none could hear it, there in the airlessness of space. The monster kicked Uggha's burned and scorched body away, still retaining his hammer.

Lady Shadowfall's arrows rained upon the creature. At first, they seemed to actually hurt it…but it recovered, and succeeding arrows simply bounced off its seemingly impervious hide. It even caught a few, and hurled them back at her, although with no real accuracy.

Through it all, Metron remained on the sidelines. He knew he was no warrior, and that his talents were best utilized in analyzing their opponent. But he found his own skills sorely tested by the beast's apparent ability to come up with whatever power it needed at the moment to vanquish whoever it was facing. In the back of his mind, he was also puzzled by the question as to whether the monster was sentient or not. It displayed some ability to think…or did it? Was it running solely off instinct? He found he couldn't analyze its patterns of attack sufficiently to correlate with either scenario…

All throughout the battle, Izaya watched. He knew, with the wisdom of many many battles, that he would have to step in, even as he did before, but he found himself wondering if even his power could affect the thing now. "Orion! Get Lightray and fall back!" He readied his scepter; at full power, the power of the scepter could actually rend space and time, opening a rift in the universe through which the monster would fall. Surely, even it couldn't survive being outside of space/time itself. He aimed his scepter….

…and the monster threw Uggha's hammer straight at him, catching him totally off-guard, and knocking the scepter out of his grip…

….and into the grinning monster's own hands.

To be continued?