Author's Note: All right I'm back with the first new chapter and update of the new year. Hope you guys like this one.
Teen Titans All Stars, Vol. 2
Chapter 26
The Fate of Zamaron
"So what the hell is this about? How did someone like Zoom aquire a Power Ring?" Roy said approaching the council.
"That is no way to speak to us." Schara said.
"Can the formalities Schara, with all do respect we need answers Gan....where's Ganthet?" he asked realizing it who it was.
"I'm afraid alot of things have changed since you last been here Speedy." said Brother Appsa.
"I go by Arsenal now, so answer me. What the hell's going on up here?" he asked narrowing his eyes.
"I believe they are owed an explanation." a small figure said behind them. The team whipped around to see a familiar blue man standing next to them.
"Ganthet!" Roy exclaimed.
"What's he doing here?" Sister Schara asked. The Guardian held up his hand calming her.
"It seems as though you guys have made quite a mess in my absense." he told the council drawing thier ire.
"And I'm afraid the boy is right, we do owe them an explanation." he added putting his hand behind his back.
"You see we have been involved in a war for quite some time and as you've already noticed some new Lantern Corps have arisen. Each one that is powered by a specific emotion within the Emotional Spectrum. The source from which all corps draw their power. To make a long story short we are now at war with two evil Lantern Corps, both of which wish to destroy us as well as those that are empowered by the positive side of the Emotional Spectrum." he said illuminating the four Corps symbols high above them.
"At current there are four known Lantern Corps: ourselves--the Green Lantern Corps of Will, the Sinestro Corps of Fear, the Red Lanterns of Rage, and the Violet Lanterns or Star Sapphires of Love. Right now all of them are fighting on the Planet Zamaron, the home of the Star Sapphire Corps." Ganthet told them.
"So this is kind of like The Force." Beast Boy said. Ganthet merely shrugged going along with it.
"As adequate an analogy I suppose." he answered.
"So then why are we here?" Nightwing asked.
"They must be spread too thin if thier calling on us. And something tells me we're not their first choice." Arsenal replied.
Ganthet cast a suspicious eye on his former brothers and sisters as they exchanged glances amongst themselves. Appsa sighed before answering.
"It is as you say Arsenal, we are losing the battle." he conceded.
"So what do you want us to do? Some of us are human and last time I checked nobody here has a Power Ring." he told them.
"Are you sure you know what your doing?" Nightwing asked.
The Guardians furrowed their brows in anger at the young man. The facade subsided as Appsa spoke.
"Yes. We have decided to authorize the Omega Sanction." he told them.
Ganthet's eyes widened in shock.
"You cant be serious. Surely it has not escalated to such a level that you deem this necessary!" Ganthet said.
"We deem it so. We cannot allow Zamaron to fall." Appsa told him.
"But what of the other corps yet to reveal themselves?" he asked trying to reason with him.
"I'm sorry my brother but we cannot wait on these other corps to save us. If they side with us at all. With Zamaron falls it'll upset the balance and thus we shall be next. We must not allow that to happen." Appsa told him. Ganthet looked back at him almost hurt by the exchange.
"You have changed my old friend." he told him.
Appsa glanced back at him from across the table and seemed to share the same sympathy.
"As have you. Titans, the time has come." he told them.
Anticipating thier deployment orders, a wall on the far right hand side of the chamber slid back revealing a specimen inside a life preservation incubator. The team looked at the tank curiously and slowly made their way over to the apparatus.
"What is that?" Beast Boy asked.
"More like who is that?" Terra asked.
In the tank was a young humanoid figure in his mid teens with wavy black hair and a rebreather over his mouth. In the gelatious green fluid the boy was clothed in blue tights with red briefs and boots and a cape around his shoulders. On his chest was a black shield with a red diagonal stripe running across it and had the same symbol on his cape. They knew immediately who he resembled but none of them could believe what was before them.
"This is our Omega Sanction. A young man from another world. Superboy-Primeour ultimate weapon." Appsa told them from the table.
"Superboy...Prime? But he looks like..." Nightwing started.
"Kal-El. The original Superboy." Appsa finished.
"But how?" he asked.
"We...have our resources." the Guardian conceeded.
Ganthet huffed in apparent disgust. "Alot has changed."
"Why would you bring another Superboy into this? I mean I thought I was the only one? At present that is." said Conner.
"And who are you?" Appsa asked.
"Kon-El. Yeah I get that Superman's the original, but how can there be another version of him?" he asked.
"There are many things your people are not aware of. I do apologise however." he said to Kon-El.
"Granted I might not be as strong as Superman yet. But I'm good enough to hold my own in battle. And not to blow my own horn or anything but I am one of the more durable members of this team. And when you pull this on me I suddenly feel like...obsolete." he said trying to validate himself.
"He does have a point. Dispite his age, he has come a long way. In terms of power and maturity." Nightwing said putting his hand on the boy's shoulder.
The Guardians whispered amongst themselves weighing the possibilities. Cassie came up behind Conner and slipped her hands around his right arm. He looked down at her as she squeezed his hand firmly, and he squeezed back. An alarm sounded within the chamber. A holographic monitor appeared off to the side showing them the chaos on Zamaron. More specifically the appearance of a yellow speedster on the planet's surface.
"There goes the neighborhood." said Arsenal.
"So what's it going to be?" Nightwing asked the Council.
"You guys go ahead. We'll discuss this later." Ganthet told the Titans.
Appsa and several of the other Guardians raised an eyebrow at him. Schara grit her teeth slightly after hearing him give the order.
"Very well. Good luck Titans, and be careful." Appsa said teleporting the team to the battlefield.
Once they were gone Ganthet then glared at the council and the apparatus containing Superboy-Prime remained in where it was.
"How could you?" he asked.
"This is no longer your concern Ganthet." Appa told him.
"Taking a boy from his homeworld to use him as a secret weapon?" he asked raising his voice slightly.
"The Legion of Super-Heroes did the same thing when he was a..." Schara started.
"The Legion of Super-Heroes never put neural dampeners on Superman to control him like a puppet!" Ganthet yelled growing angrier.
"How depraved are you to do this to a young man?" he asked the council.
"We are not depraved, he is merely a means to an end." Schara told him.
"Is that what he and everyone else is to you?" he demanded. The Guardians were silent including Schara.
"I never would have expected this...out of any of you." he said disgusted.
"Ganthet..." Sayd said. He turned his angry gaze towards her.
"Ganthet you know I would never agree to that..." she pleaded. Tears began forming in her eyes. He closed his eyes and turned away from her.
"I surely hope that is not the case. And the rest of you know I do not condone this." he told them.
"We're only trying to win the war." Appsa responded.
"No matter what the cost? Even the expense of this young man over here?" he said turning towards Prime who was still unconcious.
"What you have done is unacceptable and unethical. I really had expected better from all of you." he said looking across the council of Guardians.
"Perhaps...you are right. We have overstepped our boundaries as Guardians to imprison this young man in the hope that he would help win battles the Green Lantern Corps themselves couldn't. Remove his neural dampeners." Appsa ordered.
"As you wish." a fellow Guardian said.
A panel slid back on the desk and pressed the button deactivating the neural restraints. A noise could be heard from inside the chamber as they started to power down. The boy's eyebrows started to twitch as he roused to consciousness. A moment later his eyes opened for the first time and peered out through the green fluid.
"Release him." Ganthet ordered.
The Guardian conceded and started to drain the container. His costume soaked with saturation and started to breath on his own. The glass hissed and receded into the ground freeing the Boy of Steel from his prison. Wearily he staggered forward and nearly fell over. The teen rested his hands on his knees and took off his oxygen mask before looking out at the Guardians.
"Where...am I?" he asked softly.
"It's all right son. You are on Oa." Appsa told him.
"Oa?" he said confused.
"Yes. We have recruited you for a dangerous mission." he continued.
"What kind of mission?" he asked looking at the council.
On Zamaron the war continued as the Titans beamed onto the planet just moments ago. No sooner had they touched down, Nightwing gave the command and the team split up to battle the rampaging Red Lanterns. Starfire, Raven and Wonder Girl took to the skies while the guys battled on the planet surface. Arsenal took out his blasters and started nailing a pack of Red Lanterns mowing them down. But the last three had thier force fields up and leaped over ther injured comrades as the Titan looked up. The Lanterns spewed their their attack on him. Arsenal ducked out of the way as the acid blood burned up the earth, he peered over his sunglasses in disbelief.
"That is nasty." he commented.
The Lanterns descended upon Roy as he looked back up. Nightwing nailed one of them with a flying tackle while Cyborg blasted the other two with his Sonic Cannon. Beast Boy turned into a wolf and tackled one of the two blindsided by the blast but was quickly thrown aside. Arsenal took dead aim and fired but the bullet had no effect as it deflected off the monster's shoulder who then looked back at him in anger.
"Oh boy." he said and was shouldered by the Lantern in the next moment.
Above the battlefield Starfire rained down her starboltson the Red Lanterns that plagued the warring Green Lantern Corps. In another section of the battlefield Zoom stood idly taking in the scenes of carnage with a smile on his face.
"I was wondering when I'd run into you again." Flash said behind him.
The golden speedster turned and faced him still smiling.
"I wish I could say the same West. So this is where the ring took us. I have to say I was starting to wonder where it came from. And now here we are." he said as he stretched out his arms.
"It's all clear to me now. We're in the middle of an intergalatic war." he said.
"What gave that away?" Flash asked sarcastically.
"I had the pleasure of meeting Sinestro he filled me in on everything. And now I'm one of their harbingers of destruction. Imagine how magnificent it'll be that an entire planet falls. I wonder how greatly that'll affect the Green Lantern Corps? Especially the Guardians knowing they failed thier only ally in the war?" he said in a more menacing tone.
"Let's not find out." Flash told him.
"Flash, Flash, Flash how do you expect to improve if you never learn anything?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same thing." he replied.
"Then let's get started shall we?" said Zoom.
"Gladly." Flash said cracking his knuckles. Zoom looked at the Violet Power Battery in the distance behind Flash's shoulder.
"Now that looks important. First one to the shiny battery determines the tide of battle." he said smiling.
"No pressure right?" replied Flash.
Lightning began to crackle around Zoom's body as he started to power up and got into running stance. As Flash cracked his knuckles and prepaired for him. Bolts of golden lightning enveloped his body as well and got into stance.
"Ready!" Zoom said.
"Set.." said Flash.
"Gooooo!" Zoom screamed as he took off.
As he raced towards him time slowed down as Flash turned to his side and reached out to grab Zoom. But the speedster raced through his grasp and time resumed with the Flash in hot persuit of the Sinestro Corps speedster. Impulse and Inertia soon joined in and flanked him on both sides. Zoom grinned and fired bolts of lightning from his hands at the two. Bart and Thad split up before they hit and were then side by side with Zoom. The gold speedster fired his ring energy at Thad that took the form of himself and plowed him into a rocky hillside. Bart then tried to attack him but was struck by a vibro-attack to the chest knocking him away. Flash narrowed his eyes knowing full well that he couldnt have performed that on his own. The ring on Zoom'sfinger continued to glow proving as much. At that same time a flurry of violet energy blasts struck where he was. The Star Sapphires had joined in on the attack knowing what he was after. Several Lanterns created constructs and sent them at Zoom. The villain laughed as he blasted through them with his speed and created a lightning scythe from his ring and slew one of the women across the torso before tearing into another one. Impulse raced to save the woman and found himself in the crosshairs.
"You bastaaaard!" Wally yelled.
Zoom laughed and twirled his scythe as he readied to gut Impulse. In the next instant Flash's fist tore his chest. The Reverse-Flash looked down in agony at the pulsating red fist that tore through his symbol. Impulse stood before him in shock.
Paralyzed with pain he sank to his knees as Flash stood behind him and removed his fist from his chest.
"That...didn't go...according...to plan." he said and collapsed as the Flash stood over him.
The Star Sapphires looked up at Wally in horror. As Bart stood there stunned.
"Wally..." he said in shock.
Across the battlefield Nightwing looked out and saw him stand over the defeated Zoom and the blood mixed into his scarlet glove.
"No...Wally...what have you done?" he said to himself.
Above the planet Sinestro had already seen his greatest soldier fall. Even he was impressed by the brutal measure his opponet resorted to.
"I have to admit, I never thought the boy had it in him." he commented.
"What are you talking about?" Hal asked.
"Your friend the Flash just killed his nemesis." he said plainly.
"Wally? No he couldn't have. He wouldn't do that!" Green Lantern said.
"And here I thought heroes were above murdering their enemies? I guess it just goes to show you that when push comes to shove anything is necessary." Sinestro replied dryly.
Back on the planet level Starfire and Raven hovered above the battlefield stunned having seen him do the deed.
"Did he just...did Wally actually...?" Starfire said in disbelief.
"I cant believe it either Starfire. He actually killed him." said Raven.
"I know he was bad but...did he actually deserve that?" Wonder Girl asked.
"What possessed him to do it?" Starfire asked Raven.
"I dont know Star. I really dont." she answered.
On Oa the Guardians watched in noted silence alongside a stunned Superboy-Prime.
"He killed him. He actually killed him." the boy reiterated.
Some of the Guardians muttered amongst themselves as Prime looked up at the council. Off to the side Ganthet pressed his fingertips together in contemplation.
"No I sense the presence of another hand at work." he said to the council.
"As do I." said Brother Appsa.
The others nodded in agreement though not all of them were on the same page.
"He is on Zamaron." Ganthet stated.
On the dark side of the planet a malevolent entity remained in the shadows and roared as it flew past. On the opposing end Hal Jordan felt it's presence. Although shocked at first he narrowed his eyes realizing what was nearby and angerly turned his gaze towards Sinestro. The Gold Lantern merely smiled.
"So that's what it is." the Green Lantern said.
"Even after all these years you still know his presence." Sinestro replied confidently.
"How could I forget a monster like him?" he growled.
Back on planet level Wally looked at his hand that was stained with blood. His eyes widened as the full weight of his actions came to the forefront of his mind.
"What have I done?" he asked.
Flash remained in his own world as the war continued around him and the other Titans, though they slowly fell back into reality. A rouge energy beam hit Flash in the back jarring him back as well. With his mind now focused on the task at hand he saw his teammates fighting with the Red Lantern army. In the distance a familiar figure stood on the base of the Violet Power Battery, the figure cracked a sinister smile as he looked back at the Flash.
"That's right Wally take it all in. It'll all be over soon." said Zoom. The speedster then looked up from where he stood.
"Sinestro everything's ready down here. Bring the rain." he said.
At that moment the Sinestro Corps began breaking off thier attack with the Green Lantern Corps and decended upon the planet. As the Corps rally to stop them the Yellow Lanterns deliver their final blow and start firing blasts of energy directly on top of the battlefield. Tens of thousands of beams rain down from the skies and kill indiscriminatly amongst those fighting. Not even the Red Lanterns were safe from the attacks as they started to retreat, forcing the Titans to take cover from the blasts. Kyle having broken off his battle created a giant force field over his head, Guy and John added thiers giving the Titans some shelter from the attack. However the attention of the attacks was turned upon the Violet Power Battery and Zoom promptly escaped without anyone else noticing. In the mayhem Flash caught sight of him as he sped off. His jaw dropped as he saw him in slow motion and was gone in the next instant. The Green Lanterns focused their energy on guarding the Power Battery and were soon aided by the Violet Lantern Corps.
The Sinestro Corps soon decended through the clouds and the Star Sapphires took flight in defending their power source as well as the GLC. In the skies above the rest of the Green Lantern army broke through the atmosphere and attacked the Fear Lantern Corps from behind. On the ground Kyle, Guy and John continued to shield the battery with their rings as the golden energy waves rained down on top of them.
"I dont know how much more of this I can take!" yelled Guy.
"Just hang in there!" shouted John.
"This is redicilious!" Kyle yelled.
Just then an explosion occured from inside the force field at the base of the Power Battery making it unstable. The blast was felt by the guys, and consequently by the Violet Lantern Corps.
"How'd that get inside the shield?!" yelled Guy.
"I dont know!" yelled John.
"Guys its coming down!" Kyle warned.
The structure started to weaken and crumble beneath its weight as the enourmous lantern started to lean in thier direction. At that same moment power rings started going out throughout the Violet ranks, and Star Sapphires started to fall from the sky.
"There's nothing we can do!" yelled Guy.
"Yes there is! Just hang in there!" said John.
"We're about to be crushed by a 30 story high Lantern. I think its pretty obvious we dont have this!" shouted Guy.
The Power Battery's base continued to crumble until the full weight of the structure beared down on top of the Lanterns. The force field surrounding it started to crack as their rings struggled to keep it upright. The rings flickered indicating they had reached thier maxium limit.
"We cant hold this any longer! Its coming down! John!" Guy yelled at his teammate.
The African-American Lantern clinched his teeth not wanting to give up. But even he knew it was futile to keep trying. John clinched his eyes shut and looked away as they were teleported out from under it and the Battery came crashing down. The last signs of life flickered within the glass before burning out. The Star Sapphires looked up at the sky as the Sinestro Corps hovered over them.
"What now?" Guy asked.
Sinestro made his decent amongst his corps and hovered above the Green Lanterns with arms folded.
"Checkmate." he said.
"Your Power Battery is no more. You have no way of defending yourselves and the Green Lantern Corps has failed you. Therefore I offer you one final ultimatum, surrender or die." he said aloud.
The Violet Lanterns stared down Sinestro and his corps. It was apparent that even now they werent about to go down without a fight. The Yellow Lanterns then took aim at the Star Sapphires and the Green Lanterns that stood alongside them.
"They might not be able to protect themselves but dont forget that we're still here." said Hal.
Sinestro looked across and saw the entirety of the Green Lantern Corps hovering next to them with rings pointed at the terrorist faction.
"And we still got plenty of fight left in us." he added.
"Then how about a new proposition?" Sinestro asked as a monsterous creature revealed itself to them. Immediatly the majority of the Green Lanterns felt a paralyzing fear come over them, including Jordan. As Parallax hovered over the three Lantern Corps.
"If you agree to surrender yourself to us then I shall spare the Star Sapphires. If not then you will all be destroyed by Parallax." he decreed.
The Fear Entity roared causing ripples of energy to course through the Green Lantern ranks. Immediatly their rings started to fail and were presented their worst fears. Not even Jordan was immune to its influence. Several of the Green Lanterns started to yell and clutch thier heads in terror.
"So do we have a deal?" Sinestro asked.
Hal fought off the effects as best he could and steadied himself facing not only Parallax but Sinestro as well.
"All right. I'll go." he said.
"Excellent." Sinestro said.
"Hal you cant!" Guy yelled from the ground. Jordan turned and faced his comrade.
"Its for the best. Dont worry I'll be all right." he told him.
"He just wants to rebond you to Parallax! Dont you see it?! You'll be turned into a monster again!" he yelled.
"I have to do what is best." he told him.
"Hal!" he yelled.
"Dont do it bro!" Kyle yelled.
"Get us out of here." Hal told Sinestro.
"As you wish." Sinestro said and teleported the corps off of Zamaron. Parallax roared as he vanished as well leaving the Green Lanterns in disbelief.
Author's Note: So what'd you think of that. I apologise for the wait. I was driving myself nuts over this chapter. Anyway let me know what you think of it.
Please review,
Green Gallant.