THE SENTIENT PLANET MOGO, SECTOR 0
White lightning arced through the sky. Kyle Rayner, the White Lantern, held his hands to the head of Saint Walker, the last surviving Blue Lantern. The White Light of Life flowed through both of them. This was it, do or die. The resurrection of the Blue Lantern Corps lay on the shoulders of Kyle and Saint Walker.
"Walker! Let go!" Kyle shouted.
"He cannot!" Ganthet, one of the last living Guardians of the Universe, shouted.
"Nor can you! The reaction has begun!" Sayd, Ganthet's wife and another Guardian said.
"It's killing him!" Kyle pleaded.
"Kyle R-Rayner," Saint Walker wheezed weakly.
"Walker?" Kyle said, lightning pouring out of his eyes.
"All w-will… be well," Saint Walker faithfully repeated his motto of Hope.
"You always doubt yourself, Kyle Rayner! No matter the great heights you achieve!" Ganthet said.
"Believe now like you never have before!" Sayd encouraged.
"I…" Kyle started, "Don't you dare die on me."
More white lightning cut the sky open.
"What in holy Hell?" Green Lantern Corps leader John Stewart asked no one in particular and started to fly over to the platform floating in the sky.
A hand placed on his chest stopped him.
"It's Kyle. Trust him." Hal Jordan, the greatest Green Lantern to ever wield a ring said.
"Here we go," Kyle grunted before screaming, a pillar of white light erupting into the sky and farther into the cosmos as plant life began covering Mogo.
"The power of life flourishes unchecked! It will consume all!" Sayd shouted as she struggled against vines attempting to entangle her.
"Guide the White Light, Kyle Rayner! Channel it to our singular purpose!" Ganthet commanded, also struggling against vines.
"I'm having some trust issues here!" John said as plant life began to overtake the massive Central Power Battery, the source of the Green Lantern's power.
"Give him more time!" Hal pleaded.
At that moment, Saint Walker found another presence within the reaction. A presence attempting to halt the resurrection.
"No… who are you? Get out. Get out!"
The White Light erupting into the cosmos died along with the plant life created by the reaction.
"Is it over?" John asked tentatively.
"God, I hope so," Hal said.
Kyle was on his knees and bent over, his White Lantern uniform nowhere in sight.
"No more… I've got… nothing left," Kyle panted.
"I felt… a presence. An intruder barring our path," Saint Walker said on the verge of tears. His brothers and sisters truly were gone for good.
"Husband? I do not understand," Sayd said.
"This is… impossible," Ganthet breathed, "No power should have been able to thwart the resurrection."
At that moment, Kyle felt empty. Powerless.
"I'm sorry. My ring… I don't feel anything," Kyle said before light from each part of the Emotional Spectrum erupted from the White Power Ring and a crack was heard.
"No!" Kyle shouted as his ring split into seven parts and voices coming from everywhere and nowhere were heard.
Rage.
Fear.
Avarice.
Will.
Hope.
Compassion.
Love.
All but one ring flew away.
Scanning for replacement sentient.
Scanning for replacement sentient.
Scanning for replacement sentient.
Scanning for replacement sentient.
Scanning for replacement sentient.
Scanning for replacement sentient.
Replacement sentient found. The Green Lantern Power Ring said, floating in front of Kyle.
"In all my life… this is the first time I have been devoid of hope." Ganthet said hollowly.
"A long life maybe, Ganthet. But a short memory," Kyle said, reaching for the Green Lantern Power Ring and slipping it on his finger, "I remember when there weren't any Green Lanterns left. Just me. I carried the torch. That was a dark time. We survived."
Kyle's mask formed over his face, "I don't know what threats are coming. All I know is they're going to have their hands full. Because the Green Lantern Corps is back. And that's not all."
Kyle's gauntlet formed over his arm.
Kyle Rayner of Earth. The Green Power Ring said.
"Yes. You will most certainly do." Ganthet said, recalling his words to Kyle as he handed him, what was at the time, the last Green Lantern Power Ring all those years ago.
Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.
"I'm back. Let's get to work," Kyle said, donning his classic Green Lantern uniform.
Hal flew up to the platform, "What happened? Kyle? Where's your White ring?"
At that moment, Saint Walker flew off, muttering, "I must find it," over and over.
"Walker?" Kyle asked, "Where are you going?"
"There was a blue Power Ring!" Saint Walker said exasperatedly, before launching after the Power Rings.
"Come on, Hal, let's go!" Kyle said, flying after Saint Walker.
"But-! Ah, hell," Hal said, flying after Kyle.
The trio of Lanterns flew through the cosmos after the rogue Power Rings moving quadrillions of times faster than light. An hour later Hal said, "I'm engaging hibernation mode. Wake me up when they stop."
Four hours later Kyle also engaged hibernation mode, leaving Saint Walker alone with two sleeping green blurs.
Soon, the trio reached the edge of charted space and Hal and Kyle woke up.
"Why'd we stop?" Kyle asked, hoping he wasn't too out of practice with a Green Ring.
"This is the edge of Sector 3600. It's as far as the rings are programmed to take us," Hal said.
"The other rings aren't stopping," Kyle pointed out.
"They aren't Green Lantern Rings," Hal countered.
"Good point," Kyle said.
The trio flew through the starless sector, past a planet Hal had hoped he'd never have to see again. The Manhunter homeworld of Biot. As Hal flew through the empty space, he felt a tugging on his ring. Looking behind him, Hal saw a fleet of Manhunters, the Guardians of the Universe's first attempt at bringing order to the vast cosmos which rebelled against their creators. Worst of all, inside the heads of the androids, a Power Battery was stored which could forcibly steal any energy from the Emotional Spectrum. Hal doubted that they could steal the energy from the ring he forged himself, which had never needed a recharge, but Kyle and Walker were in danger.
"Heads up, we have Manhunters on our tail," Hal warned, shooting off a tri-beam that took out three of the androids.
"Thanks for the warning, Hal," Kyle said, constructing a mech with a sword and missile launchers that turned a dozen Manhunters into scrap.
The Manhunters opened fire, forcing Hal and Kyle to either dodge or block the lasers.
Lasers whizzed past Saint Walker's head but he didn't take his eyes off the traveling blue ring, letting Hal and Kyle do the dirty work.
A group of Manhunters broke formation and swarmed Hal and Kyle, opening up their faceplates, revealing the integrated Power Battery. As predicted, it had no effect on Hal's ring, which had a limitless charge, as it was powered by Hal himself.
Kyle was having issues. Every time a Manhunter was decimated by Kyle, two more took its place. Kyle's ring was losing charge fast.
"A little help, Hal?" Kyle asked, struggling wildly against the Manhunters around him.
Hal created a plethora of claws, each grabbing a Manhunter and crushing them in its grip until Kyle was free.
Turning back to the Manhunter fleet, Hal imagined a fighter jet chock-full of high yield explosives and it became a reality, sent careening through space at breakneck speed and collided with the lead Manhunters, incinerating the remaining androids.
Power Levels 13.9%
"Damn," Kyle said, "I'm low."
"Recharge then," Hal said.
"I know. I'm not stupid," Kyle said, opening the rift into the pocket dimension where his Power Battery was stored.
Pulling the Power Battery out, Kyle stuck his ring in the port and recited the oath, "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship evil's might, beware my power— Green Lantern's light!"
Power Levels 100%
"Hey, Walker, what charge are you on?" Kyle asked.
Power Levels 76.3%
"More than enough, Kyle Rayner," Saint Walker said.
Flying through space in silence, the three eventually breached the border of sector 3602, where they continued traveling until reaching sector 3613. As the three entered sector 3613, a planet came into focus. A planet remarkably similar to Hal and Kyle's home. The rings breached the atmosphere and the red ring suddenly diverged from the path of all the others.
"Oh hell," Kyle said, "Red rings are bad news, I gotta save the poor schmuck it's going after."
"Go ahead, Walker and I will make sure the blue ring finds a good home," Hal said, flying after the cluster of five rings.
Kyle diverged from the path and flew after the red ring. The distance between them was close, but the red ring wasn't pulling a full-size adult behind it. Kyle noticed when the sky turned purple and the red ring continued on its path toward a castle. Kyle almost grabbed the Red Lantern ring before it phased through a wall of the castle, and Kyle crashed through it.
Kyle heard someone exclaim in shock and saw the ring forcing itself onto a behemoth of a man who stood next to a girl with green hair and a boy with gray, almost silver hair.
Hazel Rainart of Remnant. You have great rage in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps.
Hazel was no match for the Red Power Ring as he vomited all the blood in his body out of his mouth and it was replaced by the liquid fire of the Red Lantern Corps. Hazel's mind went dark and only thoughts of rage remained, his clothes turning red and black with the Red Lantern Corps symbol emblazoned upon his chest. Fortunately, the nearby green-haired girl and gray-haired boy were not the targets of his rage. Kyle was.
ATLAS, REMNANT, SECTOR 3613
Hal and Saint Walker followed the remaining five rings to a floating city where their paths diverged once more. The violet, indigo, yellow, and orange rings flew off their path, while the blue ring continued.
"Dammit," Hal said before turning to Walker, "You go after the blue ring. I'll find the yellow one."
"As you wish, Hal Jordan," Saint Walker complied.
Hal flew after the yellow ring. The bright yellow stood out among the endless white of the tundra.
Suddenly, the ring made a sharp ninety-degree turn down to the ground, and Hal continued, overshooting the ring. He had lost precious time.
Flying back to the yellow ring, Hal saw it had found its host.
Tyrian Callows of Remnant. You have the ability to instill great fear. Welcome to the Sinestro Corps.
Tyrian Callows admired the ring on his finger like an engagement ring, and let out a series of cackles that would certainly make the Joker jealous.
"And who might you be?" Tyrian asked, a wild look in his eyes.
"Hal Jordan, Green Lantern Corps Officer 2814.1. I'm going to need that ring."
Tyrian hummed before saying, "No, I think I'll keep this," before unleashing a blast of yellow energy which Hal casually blocked.
Hal smiled and cracked his knuckles, "You asked for it, bud."
After Cinder snatched the Relic of Knowledge from Neo, she saw an orange blur out of the corner of her eye. Cinder turned around to find a ring forcing itself on her good hand. She desperately tried to get it off, but it was too strong. The ring settled on her hand and her eye glowed orange.
Cinder Fall of Remnant. You want it all.
"Mine," Cinder muttered, clutching the Relic to her chest.
Neo stepped towards her and Cinder slapped her away with her Grimm arm.
"Mine! Not yours!" Cinder shouted before flying off to find the Winter Maiden.
Ruby was sitting next to Penny. Thinking about everything that had just happened when a blur of blue and violet crashed into the ship. Flying around the cabin in blurs, everyone began to panic until they slowed and showed their true form. Rings. The blue one hovering in front of Ruby, and the violet one in front of Nora.
Ruby Rose of Remnant. You have the ability to instill great hope. Welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps.
Instinctually, Ruby extended her hand, to which the rings slipped on. In a flash of blue light, Ruby's clothes were transformed.
Ruby now wore a blue version of her current clothes with a lantern symbol replacing her rose emblem.
Nobody even breathed, too in awe of the phenomenon that had just occurred before their very eyes.
Before anyone spoke a word, the door to the cabin of the airship was forced open, and an alien wearing a suit similar to Ruby's stepped in.
Everyone immediately assumed combat positions.
The alien only smiled and said, "Sister Rose, welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps."
Arthur Watts was sitting in his prison cell, one leg resting over another, nursing a black eye when an explosion knocked him to the other end of the room. Struggling to get up, Watts rubbed his head. He was seeing double. Once the disorientation subsided, Watts turned to the source of the explosion and saw an indigo ring floating in the air, which then forced itself onto his finger.
Arthur Watts of Remnant. Nok.
Watts looked at the ring and knew what to do. He ran to the hole in the wall. He jumped and he flew. Watts didn't know what was happening, but he knew he felt a feeling he had never felt before. Compassion. Through compassion, he felt guilt for those he had hurt. Watts heard the guards coming to investigate the explosion so he jumped out the window and flew away.
EVERNIGHT, REMNANT, SECTOR 3613
Hazel's sights were set on Kyle. Blood was dripping from his mouth. Hazel roared and charged at Kyle.
Kyle pointed at the ground and created a rake with a hammerhead at the top. Hazel didn't pay the construct any mind and stepped on the rake, which flipped up and bashed him on the head.
As Hazel stumbled back and roared, blood flew out of his mouth and burned a hole straight through the floor.
Kyle pointed his ring at Hazel, a massive snake emerging and coiling itself around Hazel. Transforming the snake into a cage, Kyle lifted them into the air and began to fly off when something bounced off his force field. He'd felt the sensation many times before. It was a bullet. Kyle turned around and the green-haired girl held a similarly colored gun pointed at him.
"What was that for?" Kyle asked.
"You're kidnapping our friend," the girl said.
"He's not your friend right now, but I know someone who can help him," Kyle said.
"I don't trust you," the girl said.
"You can't stop me," Kyle replied before flying off to find Saint Walker.
ATLESIAN TUNDRA, REMNANT, SECTOR 3613
Hal blocked another weak yellow beam from Tyrian. The fight had been underwhelming to say the least. Tyrian had no clue how to shape the energy from the yellow ring, he was even less adept at using it than Hal, which he considered an achievement. As Tyrian shot another beam, Hal was distracted by the rolling of thunder and a massive black cloud approaching the floating city. Hal wasn't expecting the large `maw of a flying whale to emerge from the black cloud. Not that this was anything strange for Hal.
Without even looking, Hal deflected another one of Tyrian's beams directly back at him, knocking the psychopath out cold.
Hal wrapped the yellow ring wielder in chains before flying into the sky where he combatted the flying gorillas.
"Sister Rose, welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps," Saint Walker said, welcoming the newcomer with open arms, literally.
"What are you?" a girl wearing pink and blue asked.
"I am Saint Walker of the Blue Lantern Corps, an intergalactic peacekeeping organization," Saint Walker explained.
"Blue… Lantern Corps?" Ruby asked, looking at the ring on her finger.
"I am sure you have many questions, Sister Rose, and I'd be delighted to answer them," Saint Walker said, taking a step closer.
"Back off!" a blonde-haired girl with a robotic arm said.
"Such a grievous wound," Saint Walker said softly, examining the girl's arm before turning his ring to her and encapsulating her in its aura.
Target Locked.
The girl charged but was pacified by the calming blue aura, her violet eyes turning blue. The mechanical arm fell to the ground and a blue construct of her original arm took its place before solidifying and turning flesh-colored.
Everyone gasped.
"Wha-? How?" the girl asked, looking at her restored arm and flexing her fingers.
"It's the power of the Blue Light of Hope," Saint Walker said.
"Can I do that too?" Ruby asked excitedly.
"With practice, yes," Saint Walker said before someone else spoke up.
"So you're from outer space? Are these rings from outer space too?" a girl with white hair asked.
"Yes," Saint Walker said.
At that moment the sky darkened, thunder rolled, and voices came over comms.
"We've got multiple hostiles on radar. Is anyone else seeing this?" a male asked
"These readings can't be right," a female pilot replied.
A flicker of red lightning revealed a large shape behind the clouds, which was eventually revealed to be a whale monster.
The dread in the air was tangible.
"We're doomed," someone whispered.
"Do not worry. All will be well!" Saint Walker recited.
"All will be well…" Ruby repeated.
"How do you know that?" a girl with black hair and ears sticking out of the top of her head asked.
"Because Hal Jordan is here," Saint Walker said simply.
"Whoever that is, even if he can beat the Grimm, he can't win. Their leader, Salem, is immortal," she responded
"Ah," Saint Walker said, the smile on his face not wavering for a moment, "So it's as he would put it, 'Tuesday.'"
Hal charged through the swarm of flying gorillas.
"Eat this, Grodd!" he shouted, sending dozens of missiles in each direction and slamming others with a giant mallet before flying in front of the whale.
Hal willed a megaphone into existence and spoke into it, "I don't know what you are, but you gotta turn back! If you don't, you'll regret it!"
The whale monster didn't change course. Hal didn't expect it to.
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Hal said as the megaphone disappeared.
Looking at the sheer size of the thing, Hal knew he'd need to use more firepower than usual.
Kyle would probably create a giant detailed robot to ride inside of. Hal liked things simpler. Aiming his Power Ring at the bulbous nose of the whale, Hal began to charge.
Lightning flew up his arm and Hal's muscles tightened. Hal charged energy until his ring felt fit to burst.
And he let it rip.
A beam of tangible Willpower shot from his ring at speeds faster than light and flew into the whale and out the other end. The whale fell for a moment before disintegrating into ash. Having destroyed the largest monster, Hal pointed his ring above the remaining gorillas and formed a rectangle above them, a rectangle below them, and he slammed them together.
Hal held the rectangles in place for a moment before disappearing them.
"Hey, Walker, where are yo-" Hal said into his ring before he was blasted by fire, lightning, and ice.
Hal was knocked through the air but quickly recovered, and when he turned around, he saw a white-skinned woman coated in a purple glow.
"You killed them all…" the woman whispered before she intensified, "You ruined everything!"
Everyone inside the airship with the exception of Saint Walker watched Hal with gaping mouths and wide eyes.
"Did he just destroy that thing with one shot?"
"He took out all the Grimm at once."
As a boy in green was about to say something, an orange construct impaled him.
"Ren!" Everyone shouted before the door he was impaled through was ripped off the plane and sent to the ground below, along with Ren.
The girl with short orange hair didn't hesitate to jump out of the moving aircraft after him. "I trust you can handle this on your own, Sister Rose," Saint Walker said before following suit
Ruby activated Crescent Rose and stood ready along with her team and Jaune when Cinder flew in, encased in an orange glow, a ring of the same color on a finger of her good hand.
Bullets flew and swords slashed, but it was all completely ineffective against the protection of an Orange Lantern Ring. Ruby threw down Crescent Rose and pointed her ring at the woman who may have just killed another one of her friends. Ruby tried to do what Hal did and make shapes, but it would not work.
"It's mine!" Cinder said as she stalked closer to Penny, "The power will be mine!"
Cinder charged up a shot from the orange ring and shot it at Penny, who leaned out of the way. A shower of sparks followed and the airship began to lose altitude.
"Uh-oh," Maria said.
"Mine!" Cinder screeched, lunging at Penny, and tackling her to the front of the airship. The airship was now on a downward path, heading straight for the ground. Ruby saw this and braced herself before she smelled ozone the windshield became covered in green and the airship's descent stopped slowly.
Willpower detected. Ruby's ring chirped.
Constructs unlocked.
Attack beams unlocked.
As Cinder was wrestling with Penny, Ruby pointed her ring at Cinder and a burst of blue energy emerged from the ring and struck Cinder in the back, sending her into the windshield.
While the airship was being lowered to the ground, Ruby felt hope in her heart and imagined a hand wrapping around Cinder. Her thoughts became a reality.
Kyle flew through the planet's atmosphere, the newly minted Red Lantern in tow. As Kyle neared the Blue Lantern signature, he heard a grunt from behind him. Hazel must have woken up.
To Kyle's shock, he spoke, "What happened. Where am I?"
"You're talking?!" Kyle asked, looking back.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"A Red Lantern Power Ring found its way onto your finger," Kyle explained, "Nasty little thing. Blinds its host with Rage. Which is why I'm surprised you're lucid."
"Well," Hazel said, standing up in his cage, "I've had to live with rage for a while now."
Hazel reached to take the ring off his finger.
"No!" Kyle shouted, part of the cage shifting to trap his hand in a bubble.
"What's the matter?" Hazel asked.
"It's kinda hard to break it to you easily, but that ring is your heart now," Kyle said.
"What?" Hazel asked, unsure if he had heard correctly.
"The Red Lantern Power Ring replaces your heart. If you take the ring off, you die," Kyle told him.
"So this is stuck on my finger for the rest of time?" Hazel wondered, looking at the ring.
"No, I'm bringing you to someone who can safely take the ring off," Kyle said, looking forward as the floating city came into view.
"Ring, find the nearest Blue Lantern energy signature," Kyle said.
Scanning… Nearest Blue Lantern energy signature found.
Kyle followed the course to Saint Walker, who was inside a plane that had a door ripped off and orange light filling the cabin. Suddenly, the plane tipped forward and plummeted toward the ground.
Kyle pointed his ring in front of the plane and a mech was built from the ground up before catching the plane in its hands and lowering it down to the ground. Kyle flew down to the plane and entered through the doorway.
"Hey, Walker, we have a red that needs cleans-" Kyle started before he saw the bearer of the ring was not Saint Walker, but a teenage girl, who had another girl wearing an orange ring trapped in a construct.
Every head in the plane turned to Kyle.
"You're not Saint Walker," Kyle told the girl.
"He went out into the tundra," the girl with the blue ring told Kyle.
"Why'd he do that?" Kyle asked.
"Cinder hurt our friend and threw him out of the airship. I think Walker is trying to heal him.
"I see. Well, I'll just take that ring," Kyle said, creating a beam that slipped under the blue construct and slipped the orange ring off the other girl's finger.
Forming a bubble around the orange ring, Kyle commanded, "Ring, store this ring away in a pocket universe."
Pocket universe established. Kyle's ring said as the orange ring seemingly popped out of existence.
"So those rings come from outer space?" a girl who was too young to have hair so white asked.
"I'll explain later. I have to find Saint Walker," Kyle said, flying off.
Saint Walker jumped out of the aircraft after the boy in green and girl in pink. His eyes caught sight of the boy's limp form trailing blood through the air. Walker accelerated and flew down to the boy before grabbing him and floating safely to the ground.
When they reached the ground, Walker set the boy down and pointed his ring at the boy when there was an explosion behind him. Looking back, Walker saw the girl in pink land in the snow, surprisingly unhurt.
"Ren!" she cried, running over to the boy with tears in her eyes.
"My friend, you must stay back. I need to focus in order to heal his wounds," Saint Walker told the girl.
"Right… right," the girl said, moving back.
Saint Walker pointed his ring at the hole in the boy's stomach and fired a beam. The tissue first regrew as blue light before solidifying and it was repeated with each layer.
Nora Valkyrie of Remnant. You have great love in your heart. Welcome to the Star Sapphires.
Saint Walker looked away from his work and saw a Star Sapphire Power Ring had landed in front of the girl.
The girl reached her hand out and the ring floated onto her hand before settling. In a flash of violet light, the girl's clothes changed to the Star Sapphire color scheme of violet and black, while the hammer symbols changed to a star.
Saint Walker looked back to the boy, whose wounds had closed up, and he began to stir.
"Ren!" the girl cried, running to his side and kneeling down.
"Nora? Why are we down here? What happened?" he asked.
"You almost died!" Nora sobbed.
"Oh…" the boy said, still somewhat confused.
"Walker!" a voice in the distance called.
Turning around, Saint Walker saw Kyle descend from the sky, a green cage in tow.
"Kyle Rayner!" Saint Walker greeted.
"Hey, I got a red that needs cleansing," Kyle said.
Looking past him and into the cage behind him, Saint Walker saw a massive man sitting calmly.
"Are you sure he's a Red Lantern?" Saint Walker asked. Red Lanterns were normally frothing at the mouths with blood and attacking everything in sight.
"He has the ring on his finger and he pukes acid blood," Kyle said, "I'm sure he's a Red Lantern."
"Then I will heal him," Saint Walker said.
"I don't need healing," the large man refuted.
"Your heart is not beating. We must restart it," Saint Walker pleaded.
"No," he insisted.
"Kyle Rayner, I cannot heal a Red Lantern who is not willing to be healed," Saint Walker said.
"You never told me that was a rule!" Kyle said.
"You never asked," Saint Walker replied simply.
Turning to the large man, Kyle asked, "Hazel, if I let you go will you try to kill us?"
"No," the man promised.
"Alright," Kyle said, dispersing the cage.
Looking at Nora and Ren, Hazel said, "Hey."
Ren jumped up and drew his pistols and Nora aimed her ring at him.
Kyle jumped between the three, saying, "Hey, hey, hey, we're all friends here."
"No. We're not," Nora said.
"He's a murderer," Ren said.
"I'm not fighting you again," Hazel said, "We all know how well last time went."
"Yeah, I threw your ass through a wall!" Nora shouted.
"Everything other than that," Hazel said.
As the tension in the air grew thicker, Kyle spotted an indigo blur flying through the sky.
"Well I guess we found the Indigo Lantern," Kyle said, constructing a grappling hook and taking aim before firing at the indigo blur. The line went tight and Kyle reeled the indigo blur in.
The Indigo Lantern crashed into the ground and revealed itself as a middle-aged man with a mustache in an expensive-looking suit, with the Indigo Tribe symbol on his forehead.
He looked at the group around him, not paying Ren any mind, but his eyes lingered on Kyle, expanding in shock at the sight of Saint Walker, before seeing Hazel.
"Hazel. What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm not too sorry about that. It seems like you were sending these monsters to attack this city," Hal said, "Unless you need a monster army for other reasons."
"Shut up!" the woman screamed, shooting dozens of magic blasts out of her hands.
Hal batted away all the magic blasts that were sent his way and flew up to the woman and constructed a straight jacket. For the first time, Hal saw the woman's face up close, and he nearly lost his concentration on the straight jacket.
"You…" Hal whispered, "You're alive?!"
"What?" the woman asked.
"I thought the gods killed you," Hal said, "What happened to your skin?"
The woman's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about?"
"I… I was the God of Light once. Then I met your God of Light. I saw you lead a rebellion against them, and I saw them kill everyone on the planet. Except you, I guess," Hal explained.
"You were a god?" the woman asked.
"I wasn't ready for the baggage that godhood came with," Hal admitted before saying, "Look, I've been in your shoes before. I lost everything. I acted out. I hurt people. If I wasn't too far gone, neither are you."
Flashes of his time as Parallax came to the forefront of Hal's mind. Sitting in the ruins of Coast City, nearly killing the other Green Lanterns, actually killing Kilowog, absorbing the Central Power Battery, destroying the universe, and finally, sacrificing his life while reigniting the sun.
"You don't know what I've done," the woman sneered.
"Same goes for you. I hurt so many people. Betrayed those I loved. I came back from it. I'm sure you can too."
"Redemption?" the woman laughed, "Redemption doesn't exist!"
"If I can believe in it, who can't?" Hal asked.
"I've come too far to give it all up now!" the woman said.
"Please," Hal pleaded, "Don't do this. Save yourself."
The woman was silent for a moment before she sighed, looked at Hal, and said, "No."
"I warned you," Hal said before the woman flashed in all the colors of the spectrum. She screamed.
When the flashing stopped, the woman panted and asked, "What… did… you… do?"
"I sapped all the magic from your body," Hal explained, "I'm sorry I had to do it."
"Let our goddess go!" a shrill voice from behind shouted as Hal was blasted in the back, the edges of his vision flaring yellow. Hal lost concentration, the straight jacket diminished, and gravity took hold of the woman as she dropped to the ground like a rock.
Hal had heard the sound many times before and it never got any less sickening. The sound of a life being ended.
After that, he heard Tyrian let out a blood-curdling shriek. Floating down to where Tyrian was mourning the woman, Hal laid a hand on his shoulder.
Tyrian's head whipped around to face Hal, "What did you do?! Why isn't she regenerating?!"
"I sapped the magical energy from her," Hal said.
"You fool! Her immortality was magic!" Tyrian snarled.
"Hey, this isn't my fault. You're the idiot who shot me in the back," Hal said.
"Shut up!" Tyrian wailed before saying, "Drop that force-field. Let's settle this for real."
Standing up, Tyrian's yellow aura dropped. Hal did the same, exposing his body to the cold tundra. The green on his uniform was warm, but the black, which was already cold to begin with, was freezing.
"One shot each," Hal said.
"One shot each," Tyrian echoed.
Hal and Tyrian walked backward, the snow crunching underfoot. They stopped moving once they made it to a respectable forty feet apart. Hal and Tyrian's eyes met. The lifeless white lenses of Hal's mask collided with the psychotic yellow irises of Tyrian.
"Take that mask off, Hal. I like to see people's eyes when I kill them," Tyrian taunted.
Hal thought about removing the mask, and in a sheen of emerald light, it disappeared from his face, leaving his brown eyes exposed to Tyrian, no fear in them at all. That was new for Tyrian.
Hal's eyes flicked down to Tyrian's ring hand and back up to his eyes. Hal's fist tightened and relaxed.
Tyrian's hand curled into a fist one finger at a time, his right leg moving back.
Hal narrowed his eyes and focused on Tyrian's heart.
It was over before it even began. Tyrian's arm shot up at inhuman speeds but Hal moved faster and his aim was truer. A beam of jade light perforated Tyrian's chest, while gold glided through Hal's shoulder.
Hal grunted and Tyrian laughed. Blood gushed from Hal's shoulder. Hal stemmed the bleeding easily enough by wrapping a bandage construct around his shoulder before he put his arm in a sling.
Ring status. Sinestro 3613 deceased. Space sector 3613 for replacement sentient initiated. The yellow ring said as it flew off Tyrian's finger.
"Oh no you don't," Hal said, snatching the ring in a claw and crushing it.
Hal walked over to Tyrian, and saw his reflection in a pool of his blood. Hal was younger yet older with gray streaks in his hair. The grey streaks that Parallax gave him. His arm was in a sling just like now. He was wearing his older uniform as well, the one with the green around his crotch. He was sitting in the ruins of Coast City. It was the day he lost himself to Fear. The day Parallax truly took over.
Why am I seeing this? Hal wondered.
Shaking off the momentary shock of reliving one of his worst moments, Hal constructed a casket around Tyrian and the woman who he seemed to worship.
"Ring, find Kyle," Hal said.
Hal tracked Kyle a few miles away and landed next to him, along with a crashed aircraft.
Hal looked around and found a man in a Red Lantern uniform, a man with the Indigo Tribe symbol on his forehead, a girl in a Star Sapphire uniform, and a girl in a Blue Lantern uniform, along with several others.
"Hal Jordan! We have found a new Blue Lantern! The universe is not without hope any longer!" Saint Walker cheered, but he mellowed out when he noticed the two coffins that Hal had behind him.
"Who's in there?" a boy with spiky blonde hair asked.
"You might want to brace yourselves. It's not pretty," Hal said before opening the lids, revealing Tyrian and the woman.
Everyone except Saint Walker and Kyle gasped.
"That's… that's not possible," the Blue Lantern girl said, "Salem's immortal."
"Yeah… apparently her immortality is magical… I kinda drained all her magic," Hal said.
"What can't those rings do?" a girl with blonde hair asked.
"Not a lot," Hal said.
"So Salem is dead?" the Red Lantern asked, "What will we do now?"
"We find the gods. Hold them accountable for their crimes," Hal said.
Silence filled the group.
"How do you know about the gods?" the Blue Lantern girl asked.
"Because I was a God of Light once. I met your God of Light. I saw what he did. Also, this space sector was originally thought to be devoid of life. Since that's not the case, it's going to need a Green Lantern of its own," Hal said, creating a ring with his own and watching as it zipped to the blonde-haired boy.
Jaune Arc of Remnant. You have the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.
Thanks to DeltaFell for editing this chapter. If you're confused about when Hal became a god, you should check out my other story, Gods of Light.