In Blackest Night
Shayera watched in amusement as the Flash zoomed in and out of his Watchtower quarters. One of the agreements the whole team has made was that they were going to take turns over Monitor Duty and they needed a place to rest while taking turns watching over the Earth. It was Shayera and Flash's draw that made them the first honorary participants. The Flash had taken to his new quarters with feeling and had begun to move some of his things inside his 'space room'. Shayera watched him place posters of movies and bands on his wall while he placed handmade quilts on his bed. He put pictures up of himself accepting rewards and just spending time with children. Shayera had to smile at his enthusiasm and noted that he often liked to act like a child rather than an adult. Perhaps it had to do with his vigilante duties. Shayera has heard of his Rogues Gallery that were made up of strange yet deadly villains, such a man who calls himself Captain Boomerang and another who calls himself Captain Cold.
Shayera thought over her own set of villains but realized that after handing them over to ARGUS, she never had to deal with them again. It's been five years since she had last seen Lion Mane after all. Other super-powered beings such as El Diablo, Hummingbird, or even Jonathan Cheval, who had broken out of prison and had returned to Midway to exact revenge on the Police Department and on Hawkgirl, had been given to ARGUS and were never seen again after getting arrested by ARGUS. Shayera had tried to find information on ARGUS using the Absorbascon but to her amazement and bafflement, the Absorbascon only informs her of the history of Belle Reve and the purpose of it. No records or prisoner information was available. For the first time ever since crash-landing here on Earth, the Absorbascon wasn't able to decrypt the firewall that was housed in Belle Reve.
Shayera hoped that Harley hasn't become another non-existent villain that disappeared over time. It was only Harley's nightly talks with Shayera that calmed her nerves that Harley hasn't disappeared. Harley calls her 'Sarah' in their talks and Shayera knows that the guards in Belle Reve just assume that Harley is insane enough to be talking to herself. Shayera never would have thought that her friendship with Harley would have grown over the nights they talked with each other. Most of the time, Shayera remains silent during Harley's rambles knowing that the other woman needed to speak her mind freely.
The Flash had just finished unpacking his final things when they walked back to the monitoring room. The sight of J'onn J'onnz who was observing the planet on the Monitoring Deck greeted them… or at least it appeared he was observing the Earth. Shayera and Flash looked at him and noticed he seemed to be in deep concentration and his eyes glowed orange as though he was in deep thought. The Flash waved his hands in front J'onn to snap him out of whatever he was doing and Shayera found it rude and said, "Stop it. Leave him be."
They both walked to their designated chairs and began to look through the computer screens for signs of any serious threats that required their attention. Batman had made it clear that they were to look for big threats and not small ones like petty theft… those were crimes that can be handled by the police. Emmett had said the same thing the day she had announced to him that she was going to be joining the 'Justice League' as Flash so lovingly calls it. He had understood her reasoning in joining a team such as the one Superman had put together and had informed Shayera that most of the new technology that had been given to Midway as thanks by ARGUS was enough for them to handle large criminals. Shayera had promised that she will still reside in Midway and will still be a part of the Midway City Police Department. Emmett had been pleased by Shayera's dedication to the Police Force and Kendra and Alice had been over the moon when Shayera had described the Watchtower to her. Grubs had initial feelings over the Watchtower, finding that a fortified satellite in space can bring cause to worry. Shayera had assured him that the Watchtower's main purpose was to keep the Earth safe and to be an early warning system in case that another group of invaders came to Earth. She had done a press conference for Midway City and had informed the public who held the same fears as Grubs. She promised Midway City that the formation of the team and the presence of the Watchtower were to protect the Earth. Midway City reacted favorably to the news and was more appeased to learn that the Watchtower was just a satellite and not a weapon. Shayera had given them her word as a police officer, a protector, and as the representative of Midway in the newly formed Justice League… Shayera could only hope though to be a good model.
As Shayera and Flash monitored the Earth below a computer screen, a flashing light caught Shayera's eyes. It seems that a hard drive needed to be replaced before Shayera or Flash could continue to monitor the Earth. Shayera went to the source of the problem to see that one of the multiple hard drives that supported the computers had fried up and Shayera removed it carefully so as to not damage the other hard drives.
"What happened?" asked Flash as he zipped next to Shayera to see the damage.
"Nothing but a quick replacement can't fix," said Shayera as she showed Flash the burned drive, "Would you mind going to the storage and look for a replacement?" She gave Flash the drive to use and he zipped to the storage rooms and looked for the drive. Once he found one, he compared the damaged one to the new one and deemed it to be the same and zoomed back to give Shayera the new drive. As Shayera was putting the drive back in, she heard Flash ask, "So you were really a cop back in your home world?"
"I was a Captain in the Thanagarian Law Enforcement. I was chasing down a pirate when I crash-landed here on Earth." explained Shayera, wanting to be as open as possible to her new teammates and not wanting to give them any reason not to trust her.
"So then you're here alone? No way to go back?" asked Flash, suddenly feeling pity for his new member. Shayera glanced over to the Flash and said, "I've learned to accept that returning home would be a near impossibility. This is a very large universe and I don't even recognize any of the numerous galaxies that are nearby to yours. I've learned to move on from my situation as I'm sure my family has back home."
"Family, huh? Did you have any siblings?" asked Flash, curious about the normally quiet and often lonely member of the team.
"I have a younger brother named Hektar. You kind of remind me of him a little bit. He always liked to show off his abilities in a good way," she said with a smile as she remembered her brother, "He was graduating to the Academy the last I saw of him."
"What's the Academy?" asked Flash, curious about the systems of other worlds.
"It's a school to train the next generation of scientists, engineers, military recruits, and law enforcement recruits. We start our training early now that we have been at war with the Gordanians for decades now." explained Shayera.
"What are Gordanians?" asked Flash.
"Monsters: Destroyers of planets and eradicators of races. If you do not bow to them, then you have no purpose to live in their empire. My world has been at war with them since my parents' childhood years and I don't see it stopping at anytime." said Shayera wistfully, wondering how her life would have been different if she had joined the military like her childhood friends.
"Is it just your planet verses them?"
"No, we have allies in the Tamaranians, the Voxes, and the planet Raan. Thanagar is just the first line of defense. If we fall before we can help Tamaran, Vox, and Raan get ready for war then our entire galaxy is doomed to bow to the Gordanians." explained the scary reality to Flash. He looked a little pale as she finished explaining and Shayera hopes that he and his planet never have to endure a total war with an empire as merciless as the Gordanians. Shayera finished placing the drive in the compartment and flipped the computer switch to test it. Once it began running smoothly, they both sat back down in their chairs intent to finish their responsibility.
"Psst. Hey Sarah, want to know a secret?" Shayera heard in her mask. She remained neutral as she continued with her monitoring duty but paid attention to what Harley had to say. There were times where her babbles contained merit and she wanted to see where this was going.
"So after they 'trained' me today, I think I have a very high pain tolerance," said Harley, laughing as she continued to explain, "Because I think it just turns me on even more than it did with my time with puddin'." Shayera managed to stop the snort that almost escaped her nose and managed to keep a neutral face so as not to show that she was communicating with someone. Shayera listened to Harley's babbles, often at times almost nodding off to sleep when Harley talked about what she had for breakfast and lunch. Whatever Amanda Waller has in Belle Reve had better be extremely top secret if the Absorbascon can't hack into the firewall. Whoever constructed the Firewall must be knowledgeable in alien technology otherwise the Absorbascon would have managed to get through the firewall.
Shayera had no time to ponder her thoughts however when she heard Flash groan in frustration. She looked over to the speedster to see that he had pushed his head back against the chair and was staring at the ceiling.
"This is sooo boring!" he complained as they continued to monitor the Earth.
"It is what it is." said Shayera simply, recalling the words from when Commissioner Emmett had told Kendra the same words whenever she complained about her duties. Flash gave her an irritated look and said, "You must be pretty used to this aren't you?"
"I trained to be a police officer ever since I was twelve. I became a police officer at sixteen and I had reached my rank as Captain not even a year later. I am very much used to doing what you humans call 'desk-duty' in my early years." explained Shayera.
"You've been a police officer in training since you were a kid?" Flash asked disbelievingly. Shayera gave an amused smile as she remembered that his reaction is a perfect replication of Emmett's reaction when she had revealed that bit of her life.
"Remember, Thanagar is at war. We cannot afford to have everybody 'having fun' as you would say. I had a childhood like everyone else here on Earth, but we needed to grow up and face the world sometime." said Shayera.
"Yeah, but I mean… what about stuff like dating? Late night parties? Smoking your first cigarette?" asked the Flash, understanding that while Hawkgirl had a childhood, she didn't have a teen hood.
"In Thanagar, courtship is a serious life decision that shows that you are willing to commit in a relationship for the long run. We don't have the luxury of 'dating' possible partners because it goes against our tradition. We believe that friendship is the first step towards a courtship, then comes the courtship and then comes the marriage." explained Shayera.
"Really? So friendship would count as dating?"
"No, it would count as knowing the person better. I have seen a close friend of mine go through her steps of courtship with her now husband. They were friends first before it grew into a love that had grown."
"So you guys don't do arranged marriages then?"
"Absolutely not. We are a race of freedom and fairness. Why take away the simplest right to choose who you want to spend your life with away?"
"Yeah, that makes sense. But really what about dances and prom? High School drama?"
"Much of what I have seen in High school drama I am rather glad we don't have in Thanagar. As for dances, we have festivals that celebrate our history and heritage."
"Oh, ok. Thanagar sure is a strange place."
"Much can be said about Earth." retorted Shayera with a smile as she remembered all the new experiences she had experienced since crash-landing on Earth. Flash laughed at her answer and said, "So was there a Hawkboy before crash-landing here?" Shayera gave a genuine laugh at his question and said, "No. I was a dedicated officer of the law, which meant I had no time to build any type of relationships with anyone. My childhood friends all chose to join the military so we drifted apart after we picked our careers."
"Huh, so is this why—" he was cut off by the sight of a multiple meteors speeding by the Watchtower and heading towards the Earth.
"OK! TIME IN TO CALL IT IN!" yelled the Flash as he pressed on the communicator link up. Unfortunately he was receiving busy calls from almost all.
"Where is everyone?!" cried out the Flash as he and Hawkgirl raced to the teleportation platform.
"They all have their own separate missions to fulfill." said the voice of J'onn from above them. He floated down to the platform as Flash zoomed up to the deck and typed in the coordinates of the location of the small meteors. The three found themselves in a city and people running away from where they can hear metallic stomping.
"Where are we?" asked Shayera.
"Detroit, and I think we're dealing with more than just meteors." said Flash as he pointed towards five large robotic men that were stomping their way towards them. Shayera unclipped her mace and unleashed her talon hand as they approached the group. J'onn stepped forward and asked, "What is your business here?"
"We are the Manhunters. We are here to retrieve John Stewart the Green Lantern." stated one of the Manhunters.
"Like hell you are." said the Flash as zoomed in front of the Manhunter in an attempt to stop them from advancing into the city.
"You will not stop us from our mission. The Manhunters always gets their man." said the Manhunter where he produced a staff and swiped at the head of Flash and knocked him into the building. J'onn and Shayera immediately got into the defensive and avoided getting hit by the staffs. Shayera had managed to swipe the staff of one Manhunter in half with her talon hand and knocked him back with her mace. Shayera had managed to dodge a thrown car in her direction when she heard J'onn give a cry of pain. He had been handling his fights very well so Shayera hadn't been too worried. She turned to see that J'onn had been on the receiving end of the staff's electrical end and had fallen stunned on the floor. Shayera made a move to help him when she received her own electric shock from a Manhunter. Sadly for the Manhunter, Shayera had a high tolerance for electricity and absorbed the power in her mace and knocked him back. With the added power and energy, Shayera swiftly flew up high before diving down and performing a perfect last minute pull to fly her way through the Manhunters as though they were bowling pins.
The Flash had managed to revive from his earlier knockout and sped his way to quickly round up the fallen Manhunters. Four of the Manhunters were soon pressed back to back against each other with wires the Flash had pulled from a construction site two miles out. The lone Manhunter was dealing with Shayera, proving to be a more admirable foe. Shayera had managed to dodge his kick when his unseen jab knocked her back into a parked car. The Flash sped his way to her and managed to carry her to safety when the Manhunter had attempted to blast the dazed heroine.
Shayera quickly regained her senses and flew out of the Flash's arms and stayed in the air. She was about to fly down and help J'onn fight against the Manhunter when a rush of wind flew by her. Shayera never would have thought to have felt relief when she saw Superman knock the Manhunter back into the street. Shayera flew down next to Superman as J'onn and Flash joined them.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I had to deal with Parasite. What's going on?" asked Superman. Flash quickly filled in the details to Superman as all five Manhunters regrouped and stood on one side of the street while the Justice League members stood on the other. It was a stand off that created a tension felt by everyone who had bravely stayed to watch the fight. Shayera made sure not to be the one to move first. She had been in enough stand offs during her time as a Thanagarian Law Officer to know that it was sometimes better for the law if the opponent struck first. A Manhunter grew tired of waiting and rushed forward, followed by its companions. Shayera and the others stood still and braced themselves for impact when a green barrier was suddenly between the two groups. Shayera looked for the source and saw John Stewart flying towards them.
"Are you John Stewart, The Green Lantern?" said one of the Manhunters.
"I am." confirmed John.
"Hand over the ring and you're hereby under arrest by the Intergalactic Court of Ajuris 5." said the Manhunter and to Shayera's astonishment, he actually gave his ring up.
"Hold on," she said and as swiftly as the Flash she had taken the ring out of the Manhunter's hand. The Manhunter gave her a look of pure loathing and made a move to attack her but Shayera quickly demanded, "I would like to see a proper warrant for arrest and I would also like for the Intergalactic Court of Ajuris 5 to present their treaty with the United States of America and the United World's nations in order to properly arrest said 'fugitive'. If you do not present the proper paperwork, then you will creating controversy for not only yourselves but for your employers as well."
If anyone was expecting the normally tough and violent member of the Justice League to demand proper documentation in order to stop what would have been a superhero brawl in Downtown Detroit, then only one person was not surprised while everyone else stared at her with mouths agape.
Shayera wished she had a camera for the look on the Lantern and Flash's face. J'onn was stoic as ever but she can see his raised eyes as a gesture of shock. Superman, who had already known that Hawkgirl was as strict on her police training than her fighting, was the only one who wasn't focused on her. He was looking at the Manhunters as though daring to try and create a galactic controversy. The Manhunters were glaring at Shayera with much hate but one stepped forward and said, "We will return with the warrant and we will be presenting it to your United World's Nation Assembly."
With that, the Manhunters launched themselves into space and ensuring that the League had time to prepare for their eventual return. The Flash zoomed next to Shayera and said, "You're kinda scary when you go into cop-mode." Shayera gave him a smirk and teased, "That's only because you're a vigilante." The remaining League Members began to clean up the city and once the damages had been taken care of, they teleported back to the Watchtower. Shayera had been hoping to relax for a bit before getting back into the business of the Intergalactic Court wanting to imprison the Lantern, but it seemed he had another idea when he rounded on her and began to shout, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"
Shayera had jumped in surprise at his outburst but her quick temper took over and she shouted back, "I WAS THINKING THAT YOU WERE IN TROUBLE!"
"I didn't need your help and I certainly didn't ask for it!" said John, composing himself as he continued to argue against Hawkgirl.
"No, you really do need help. Why would you give yourself up for arrest? What did you do?" demanded Shayera, getting very irritated with this human man.
"That is none of your business."
"It is our business when you have hunters coming to Earth and begin to cause damage."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have started the fight! You've caused nothing but more trouble for this planet just by demanding them to get a treaty and a warrant! What were you thinking!?" Shayera felt her temper rise dramatically as she glared at the Lantern.
"Uhhh, John? That fight was actually my bad." said the Flash, not wanting Hawkgirl to be blamed for his actions. The Lantern though wasn't paying attention and Shayera glared at the man with a newfound feeling of dislike. It wasn't quite hate, but she knew that she will not be able to get along with this man at all.
"No, I don't have to explain myself to you if you are weak enough not to fight for yourself."
"What did you say about me?"
"You heard me."
Shayera and John glared at each other with so much anger and dislike that the others were starting to feel uncomfortable in their presence. Shayera was restraining herself with great effort as she wanted to smash her mace in John's face but instead said, "Why were they arresting you?"
John glared at Hawkgirl while he heard Superman say behind him, "Why were they arresting you, John? We are your friends, we can help." Feeling the others looking at him in expectation while Hawkgirl continued to glare at him, John sighed and stopped his glaring match to sit down in the computer chairs.
"During one of my missions with the Green Lanterns, we were stopping an illegal weapons trade that was causing many incidents in the Ajuris 5 area. I was chasing down a thug in space and I shot a blast at him with my ring. He dodged but the blast… I couldn't stop it," said the Lantern as he placed his head in his hands and continued to explain his story, "the blast went into a volcano of a nearby planet… it activated the chamber and it caused a worldwide eruption… the planet exploded."
John rubbed his head to ease the headache that was coming while the others looked at him with pity and sadness. Shayera closed her eyes to calm her temper and her hurt while she thought of a way to help the Lantern. Many things have been said between them, but he was her teammate and she was going to help him. Shayera looked at the others and said, "Let's go."
"Where?" asked Flash.
"Investigate. We need to find a way to keep the Manhunters from coming back." said Shayera as she walked towards the hangars where she knew Bruce had left new space travel vehicles at their disposal. With the help of Shayera's knowledge in basic spacecraft, Wayne Enterprises was able to create and donate the space vehicles for the Justice League to use at their disposal. Lucius Fox had made it a point to emphasize how Wayne Enterprises was behind the construction of the Watchtower and donated it to the Justice League, earning the company positive feedback and an increase of business.
"Look, what happened has happened. I was willing to turn myself over in order to receive the punishment that I deserve." said John, not believing it when everybody began to move towards the hangar.
"All I want to do is survey the crime scene. For all we know, it could have been another Lantern that caused the eruptions." said Shayera, not believing that this human man was so willing to receive punishment without a proper defense.
"Look, I—" but whatever he was going to say was cut short when Hawkgirl rounded on him and lifted her mace so it was seen and said, "—I'm about ready to knock you into next Tuesday if the next words out of your mouth is about how you don't believe your worthy of a defense." John stared at her wide-eyed before giving a sigh and jumping on board in the ship. There wasn't much he can do really when she still had his ring. As everybody strapped themselves in, Superman pulled Hawkgirl to the side and said, "There were a lot of things that went wrong just earlier, but I'm glad you took initiative." Hawkgirl smiled at him and said, "I think we managed to break down some barriers."
The flight into open space was something that Shayera was honestly excited for. Five years since she had been behind the wheel of a spacecraft and here she was again, going out into open space just like she did back on Thanagar. Bruce had warned Shayera though that the metal used in the ships might be able to withstand the harshness of space, Earth metal was not durable against the harshness of warp drive and the engines can only go so far into space. Shayera had assured Bruce that she was truly learning how to let go of her homesickness and that she had already adopted Earth as her permanent home. Sometimes for a burly and broody man, Bruce was a true gem out of many. Shayera shook her head in order to stop her thoughts from getting even more 'mushy' as Kendra would say.
Shayera was navigating the ship while J'onn and Superman asked John more questions about his apparent hand in the destruction of the planet while the Flash stood next to Shayera, watching as she guided the large spacecraft with little to no effort.
"You must have done a lot of flying in space huh?" asked Flash as Shayera weaved the craft with skill between the asteroid belt.
"On Thanagar it's required that you endure the harshness of space travel before permitting you to fly out into space. Our weather on Thanagar can be described like trying to survive within a comet during our winter cycle. On our summer cycle, the air is humid and flying is the only way to keep your body temperature leveled." said Shayera, not knowing why it was easy to talk with the speedster. With Bruce, she was assured of his silence but with the Flash it was as though they had been friends for a long time. Shayera knew it was Wallace West under the mask just as she knew it was Clark Kent behind the Superman. It wasn't difficult to discover their 'secret identities' using the Absorbascon. The Flash would often forget that a camera was stationed near the police station he worked in as a Forensics analyst whenever he needed to change. Shayera knew that his uncle Barry was the one ensuring that the video feed was erased. As for Clark Kent, even Shayera questioned the logic that wearing a suit and glasses can provide a secure identity.
It was about a few hours when they reached the Ajuris 5 sector. Shayera was no stranger to being exposed t different alien races, but this was the first time she had been in a very diverse environment. She could see outside the window the many different races that were minding their own business. Shayera turned to look at John and was glad she still had his ring. He was dressed in civilian clothing and at least he did not resemble a Green Lantern. Shayera held on to his ring tightly, knowing that if she wasn't careful then the idiot would try to make an escape. They landed on a docking platform and they left the ship, ready to start their investigation.
Shayera and J'onn flew towards an open store while Superman and Flash stayed to keep an eye on the antsy Lantern. Shayera had to roll her eyes at the lightweight but she figured that rebelling against the system is something a soldier isn't comfortable with doing. She and J'onn walked into the store and saw a lone cashier standing behind a counter. Shayera walked up to him and asked, "Hello, my partner and I are conducting an investigation regarding a planet and a Lantern."
"Yeah? Ajuris 4 was only a bystander of a battle that the Lanterns should have ended. I'm glad that the court has sent out Manhunters to find him, he deserves whatever punishment is being handed to him." said the clerk. Shayera and J'onn looked at each other briefly before returning to the ship to find Superman holding John to the chair.
"What's going on?" asked Shayera.
"He tried to flag down the police to arrest him! I was lucky enough to convince them that he's not right in the head." said the Flash irritated at the near turn of events.
"I could have vouched for you if I had been there," said Shayera while ignored John's glare, "We're going to the Ajuris 4 location."
"Why? There's nothing there." said John, defeated. Shayera rolled her eyes at his self-pity and said, "Knock it off. We're going."
The flight to Ajuris 4 was short and Shayera maneuvered through the asteroid bits of what was once a planet. She found a moon to land in and everybody put on full body suits, including John when Shayera refused to return he ring to him. They went out to the moon and looked up to see the remains of Ajuris 4. John looked away in shame while Shayera pondered a quick thought.
"Flash, can you still use your speed in space?" asked Shayera.
"Sure I can. What do you need me to do?" asked Flash.
"I want you to quickly run cover over this entire planet. I want to see if there is anything on this moon." said Shayera. The Flash gave a quick salute and sped away to inspect the entire moon.
"This is a moon, right?" asked Superman. Shayera looked over to the Man of Steel and nodded her head in affirmation seeing that he had the same idea as she did.
"I don't see why that's so important." said John.
"You're a moron. A moon is a satellite," explained Shayera, "And a satellite orbits." She watched as comprehension dawned on his face.
"Then that means…" he said as he finally understood what was going on.
"This moon is orbiting a planet that shouldn't exist." confirmed Superman. The Flash came back to the group and said, "I found something that's just less than a mile from here."
They followed him to a cavern where they saw a machine on the bottom. They all made their way towards it and J'onn inspected the contraption with Shayera while the other three took guard. Whoever left this machine running in the bottom of a cavern is sure to check up on it periodically.
"It's a hologram projector." said J'onn as he turned the machine off. A light that was originally flashing from on top of the machine turned off and they all watched as the debris floating in space disappeared and a planet was seen. John felt immense relief that the planet was still ok and that he wasn't responsible for the death of millions.
"We need to clear your name buddy." said Flash.
"We need evidence first though." said Superman. Like that, he lifted the machine with little effort and they all made their way back to the ship. Once they arrived back on their ship, Shayera gave Lantern his ring back now that they all know the truth.
"Hawkgirl… listen. I'm… I'm sorry, for everything that I said. I didn't want to believe that I deserved any form of mercy but… thank you." said John, stumbling over his words. Shayera gave him a small smile and said, "I'm sorry too."
"Listen, now that we are all good friends again, how are we going to get this machine to Ajuris 5?" asked Flash. John smiled at the kid and with his ring, formed a bubble around himself and the machine. The other four got into their ship and flew back to Ajuris 5. They made quite the spectacle in the courthouse where the Manhunters and the judges look in shock as the Earthlings, the Martian, and the Thanagarian crashed the court process. What really made things tense was when his fellow Lanterns confronted John. John had a stare down with them as they hung insults and accusations at him, all but one large pink fellow. Shayera flew in between John and the Lanterns and said, "You all have a problem to pick? Do it after the trial. Meanwhile I'd suggest you look out the window before you start accusing people of blowing up worlds."
"Lady you don't scare us." said one of the Lanterns, a pink ball with eyes.
"You should be."
"Please, you against the rings of the Green Lanterns? You have no chance."
"What is the meaning of this?!" yelled one of the judges. Superman took over the helm at this point and presented the case that took only five minutes to present.
"Bring in the witness!" yelled one of the judges. An insect-like humanoid alien was brought in with handcuffs and he shivered in his feet when asked why he had lied about the Lantern blowing up a planet. When the witness couldn't bring up a proper defense on his part, he was asked if he had been working with anyone else.
"T-T-The M-Manhunters!" he cried out. This brought about a wave of gasps in the audience and the judges immediately acquired the help of the present Green Lanterns to hunt down the Manhunters. The Justice League helped John in his mission and began to investigate all around Ajuris 5. Shayera and Flash had taken one part of the main street while Superman, J'onn and John flew high above the city to determine where the wayward robots went.
"John Stewart." said a voice behind John. He turned to see the little blue aliens known as the Guardians approach him.
"You have shown great initiative today, John Stewart. The ring has chosen wisely." said the leader of the group.
"Uhh thanks," said John, "Look, I mean no disrespect but the Manhunters are loose and—"
"What? You must find them John Stewart!" cried out one of the Guardians in fear.
"What is it?"
"The Manhunters! They were our first attempt to create a galactic police force, but unfortunately they were a bit excessive in their force. We gave them to the Intergalactic Council in order to appease their nature, but we have always feared that one day they will go rogue." explained the leader. John was surprised at this new information but he quickly informed the League of the possible destination of the Manhunters. They made their way to Oa, the Green Lanterns' planet to find that the Manhunters are already on the assault on the fortress.
Shayera sneered when she saw the lead Manhunter, the largest of them all and the same one that had tried to blast her to ash on Earth, run into the building and John followed after him. She quickly jumped out of the ship and began to fight back, helping other Lanterns along the way. The battle was intense and Shayera had to help protect the Flash along the way. Super speed doesn't mean that the kid had excellent balance and stability whenever he runs. Shayera needed to help him fix that problem.
Manhunters had tried to swarm over Shayera, but with her mace, she managed to knock them all off their feet and proceeded to fight again. This was a stressful battle as the Manhunters proved to be enduring but it all came to an end when she heard Stewart cry out,
"In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night
No Evil Shall Escape my Sight
Let Those Who Worship Evil's Might
Beware My Power, Green Lanterns Light!"
All the Manhunters were shut down and Shayera assumed it had to do with the leader's end. John Stewart flew towards them newly recharged and healed and Shayera was actually relieved to see he had survived his fight. The others cheered at their victory and Shayera was half-tempted to join them when she heard Harley in her ear say, "So Sarah. Had a nice night? I've been trying to get this itch off my back but Waller says I still need to 'prove my worth' to her if I want out of the straight jacket. So my day so far has been-"
Harley continued to talk to Shayera, much to her amusement, and made no sign of stopping until she yawned and bid Shayera a good night. Shayera reminded herself to investigate Belle Reve better in order to determine whether Harley was safe or not. She still felt uneasy whenever she brought up her current situation.
The Lanterns had wanted to celebrate and took all of them to Ajuris 5 where they sat in a bar and began to drink and tell tales. Much to everybody's amusement, Shayera proved to be a real heavy drinker when she drank her way through more than five liters of alcohol.
"You don't feel sick or slushed at all?" questioned Flash.
"Please," snorted Shayera, "This is watered down to the point where I can barely taste the actual alcohol."
"You know, I hope you forgive us for the slight we gave you earlier." said one of the Lanterns, Galius Zed. Shayera drank her sixth liter of alcohol when she turned to Galius and said, "I'm still annoyed that you think with your ring everything can be solved."
A scoff from another Lantern, Arkiss Chummuck, brought Shayera's attention to him as he said, "Lady, we can take you without our rings." Shayera narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Oh yeah?" She threw her mace down on the table and unclipped her talon hand. She removed her primary armor until she was only in her tracksuit with her mask.
"Bring it." she said, mocking him into a fight. Arkiss narrowed his eyes at her but removed his ring and launched himself at her. Shayera quickly dodged his punch and with an uppercut, sent him flying into Galius. The two Lanterns launched themselves against Shayera and she quickly flew up and body slammed down on top of them. Pretty soon, it was five on one and Shayera was having the best time of her life. She took advantage of the Lanterns' dependency on the ring to win her fights and pretty soon a brawl had erupted in the bar. Superman, J'onn, Flash, and John watched with amusement as Shayera laughed when she was pushed against the wall but she recovered by delivering a swift kick up in the jaws of her assailant.
"She's having way too much fun with this." said Flash. Just as he finished his sentence though, a random punch hit him in the jaw, prompting him to growl and join the fray. The other three remained in their seats just watching the fight go on, only having to intervene when Superman received a call from Batman, who needed Hawkgirl's assistance. After pulling Hawkgirl and Flash out of the fight, they were amused to note that while not drunk, Shayera was a bit tipsy after receiving many blows to the head while the Flash was having a hard time remaining upright. John helped Flash into the ship while J'onn waited for Shayera to re-equip her armor, mace, and talon hand. On their way to the ship, J'onn asked, "Why do you wear a mask all the time?"
"It's a tradition and a cultural law on Thanagar that only family is allowed to see your face. Taking it off in public would be equivalent to dressing down nude." explained Shayera.
"So no one has seen your face on Earth?" asked Superman.
"Not true. I have been… adopted you can say by Commissioner Emmett and his family. I often remove my mask whenever I visit them in their homes, but if visitors are there I leave the mask on." explained Shayera as they strapped themselves in their seats and J'onn took over as driver.
"Would you mind if I used X-Ray vision?"
"You can do that?"
"Yes."
Shayera hesitated for a bit, but decided to see just how powerful his x-ray vision is and said, "Ok, but try anything inappropriate and I'll shove you out of the airlock."
Superman merely smiled at her threat and tried to use his x-ray vision on her but was surprised that he couldn't see past the mask.
"What is your armor made of?" he asked. Again, Shayera hesitated. She had kept the secrets of Nth Metal and the metals of Thanagar for so long while on Earth, but she decided not to indulge that bit of information with Superman and said, "I don't know which type of metal, but it's the same kind used in our weapons."
The ride back to the Watchtower was quiet and everybody enjoyed their tour of the stars. Shayera sighed as she dreamed of Thanagar and closed her eyes, intending to sleep in a few hours before she went on a mission with Bruce. Her dreams swirled in mind as colors clashed behind her eyes. Shayera was pleasantly happy when images of dark wings took over her mind and the blue sea of eyes stared at her in her dreamland, willing for her to come to him.
So based on the polls, Batman had won the eventual draw. Fret not though GL fans, because of your insistence on a GL/HG fiction, I am already in the works of creating one. Anyways, what did you like about this chapter, what did you think about Shayera and Flash's friendship and her bumpy friendship with the Green Lanterns? Next chapter I will still leave it Shayera-centric but this time the story will be told through Bruce's eyes in order to build the relationship. Also if you guys are looking for more Shayera/Harley friendship, I'd suggest reading AC333's Suicide Squad story. Thanks again and please review, I'd like to hear what you would like to read in future chapters.
