All comes down to this!

Chapter wa'maH jav!

"And who the heck are you supposed to be?" Khan asked the figure in front of him.

I thought the ring's records already told you... the figure spoke.

That was when the memories implanted into him by the ring returned. The being that laid waste to the Lanterns' home universe and was responsible for putting that ring on his finger was standing right in front of him. "Nekron..."

Let's just say your ring's wired a bit differently from standard power rings. It kept you on the verge of death instead of delivering you directly to me, and even I can be merciful sometimes. I'm offering you a choice. If you submit to me, then you can see your beloved starship again. That's what you always wanted, right? But if you choose to return, you can still save everyone but you'll never see him again.

"I..." Khan couldn't find the words. Being reunited with the USS Vengeance was his one wish but when he thought of everyone he left behind, it made him really hard to choose. The Federation Alliance, who viewed him as their Ultimate Hope. Saaya, who would be vulnerable without his protection. His Lanterns, who thought of him as their guiding light. And Jaylah, his pardner, the one who placed her faith in him.

You better hurry up and choose! Nekron urged him. He then showed the fallen Lantern an image of the USS Vengeance, as shiny and new as the day he was completed. It was soon followed by what was going on in the Alpha Quadrant.

"Stay on course, Mr. Sulu!" cried Kirk.

"Mates, I don't mean ta be a stubborn barnacle, but even if we can reach dat behemoth wi'out gettin' blown ta smithereens, how are we gonna stop it? Wi'out Khan and his ring, we be doomed!" Scotty said.

Inside the mother-ship, Okaia had had it. "This rebellion ends now." he declared, and retreated deeper inside to ready his ultimate weapon.

Scotty was saying, "We were a hearty crew but now...it's over." as the robots swarmed the Enterprise.

Then both images vanished, and Khan had his head hung low. So, Dawnbreaker, have you made your choice?

"I..." muttered the Augment. "I want to go back."

Then so be it. Nekron declared. A portal formed and Khan fell through it.

Saaya, now a Red Lantern, and Jaylah were fighting to the end, side by side. When there was no way out, the black-and-white alien held her cat close, ready to embrace the impending doom when suddenly, familiar red-tinted shadows crept onto the battlefield.

November Rain-Guns 'N' Roses

When I look into your eyes,

I can see a love restrained,

But darlin', when I hold you,

Don't you know I feel the same?

Nothin' lasts forever,

And we both know hearts can change,

And it's hard to hold a candle,

In the cold November rain,

We've been through this such a long, long time,

Just tryin' to kill the pain, ooh, yeah,

But love is always coming and love is always going,

And no one's really sure who's lettin' go today,

Walking away,

If we could take the time,

To lay it on the line,

I could rest my head,

Just knowin' that you were mine,

All mine,

So if you want to love me,

Then darlin', don't refrain,

Or I'll just end up walkin',

In the cold November rain.

Do you need some time on your own,

Do you need some time all alone,

Everybody needs some time,

On their own,

Don't you know you need some time all alone?

I know it's hard to keep an open heart,

When even friends seem out to harm you,

But if you could heal a broken heart,

Wouldn't time be out to charm you?

A helmeted figure was destroying the enemy forces as if they were flies. Jaylah recognized who it was beneath that mask it wore. It was unmistakable. As of now, there was only one ring-wielder who could manipulate darkness like that.

As the song slipped into its final chorus, the figure floated over to Jaylah and Saaya, then willed his helmet away. "Khan Noonien!" Jaylah cried as she threw her arms around him. Saaya also purred happily at the sight of her Master.

"You have a ring now?" said Khan, looking at the feline Red Lantern. "Holy unanticipated occurences, truly. And Jaylah, sorry for the long wait."

"It's fine." the Green Lantern giggled. "But...how? I could've sworn you were..."

"Oh, Death himself offered me a choice and I made mine." Khan replied.

Suddenly, they heard a Klingon curse and then a yellow flash of light came their way. "Par'Mach'kai—way to make me jealous!" it said.

"Oh, please, Shenara!" Jaylah said. "You know I'm only attracted to women. One woman in particular."

Now it was Khan's turn to be surprised. "Jaylah! Are you and Shenara—?"

"Yes, Khan Noonien. Yes." Jaylah replied. "A lot happened while you were gone."

Soon, the other Lanterns began to recognize him as well. "Look! It's Khan!" cried Kirk.

"WE'RE SAVED!" Guy added.

"Welcome back, pal." John said as he placed a hand on Khan's shoulder.

"Jaylah, I'm going inside that thing." Khan declared. "But I'm gonna need your help."

"You got it, pardner." Jaylah replied.

"OK, here's what we're going to do..."

Inside the mother-ship's throne room, Lord Okaia gritted his teeth. "Release everything we've got!"

Thousands of ships and robots poured out, but the dynamic duo remained unfazed. Another blackout from Khan's ring, and they were all taken care of in mere minutes. Jaylah took her opportunity, seized her pardner's hand, then shot the both of them into an opening. "Sir, the gate's not closed!" A Founder informed him as a green blade beheaded the poor man.

"Back from the dead, Dawnbreaker?" Okaia sneered, then shifted into Spock. "You feel you are prepared now, for this...Ha! You're too late. You and your little gal pal's finished. All because of your stupid plan."

"No, in fact, I'm here to finish you." Khan retaliated.

Okaia/Spock walked over to Khan, one of his hands already formed into a blade. "Let's settle this fair and square, shall we?"

"How'd you know who went in my way, anyway?"

"Oh, my Vorta scientists did a little...brain-probing with the technology they developed before you and your scurvy crew were hauled off to the Think Tank. You did have a warrior's mind, after all." Okaia/Spock smirked. That ticked Khan off, and he made a mean-looking construct sword for the "fair and square" duel. Jaylah had a pair of green pom-poms ready, so she could cheer her friend on. The construct clashed with Okaia's arm-blade, causing a metallic clang to reverberate around the room.

"You probed my mind?" Khan said. "I'll make you regret that!" He then swung his sword at Okaia/Spock, who dodged and parried with a blow of his own. The next time the Dawnbreaker looked at his opponent, he saw the face of another old foe by the name of Admiral Alexander Marcus.

"Look at you." said Okaia/Marcus. "So easily offended..."

"Don't let him get to you!" Jaylah cried. "He's trying to..."

"You forgot one thing, Jaylah." Khan said, smiling at her. "Red is the color of rage. The angrier you get, the better you fight. Also, I had to pay a price to return and end the war. That left a bigger void in my soul. You know what that means, right?"

Jaylah smiled back. "I do. Finish it, pardner. Finish it."

Khan and Okaia/Marcus exchanged a few more blows, both struggled to get a solid hit on the other. "Your reckless mission ends now." said Okaia/Marcus as he shifted back into his monster form, and grabbed his adversary in one huge hand, ready to crush him.

"No." Khan said. "It's time for you to go." He then vomited napalm blood on the evil lord.

"What's happening?" Okaia exclaimed in dismay. "I'm burning! I'm burning!" A few more seconds later, and there was nothing left of him but ashes.

"Jaylah to Enterprise." said the Green Lantern through her wrist communicator. "The Dawnbreaker has defeated the enemy leader. I repeat, the Dawnbreaker has defeated the enemy leader."

"Enterprise to Jaylah." said a female voice. "This is Luen, Engineer Scott just gave me a communicator. May your return be swift."

"Who's that?" asked Khan.

Jaylah simply said, "She used to be a Dominion general, but now she's with us."

"Are you sure we can trust her?" asked Khan.

"That's what everybody thought of you, at first." Jaylah told him. "C'mon, let's get going."

Suddenly, they heard rumbling. "What the juice?" said Khan, as he and Jaylah were making their way out.

"We should probably...investigate?" said Jaylah. The two followed the sound, and found a light-fueled giant robot readying itself for launch. On its arm was engraved the designation "L4Z-R0W".

"Oh, damn." Khan muttered.

Jaylah, on the other hand, was getting excited. "Alright, pardner, time to stick it to this sticky stinker! Whaddaya say?"

They shared a look, and went into fighting stance against both the robots that were pouring in like crazy and the new, gigantic threat. Khan made a construct shield and defected an energy blast from one of the incoming bots. KAPOWWWZZT!

"Whoa!" Jaylah exclaimed as she jumped from here to there, deflecting every blast that were aimed at her pardner. "I've never felt so alive!"

"Neither have I!" Khan agreed, using a multitude of blades to slice and dice every adversary that came his way while also handling L4Z-R0W's devastating blows at the same time.

"Alright, pardner, let's waste this piece of junk!" Jaylah declared.

"I'll gladly slice it into scrap metal, pardner." Khan agreed. "But I can't do this alone. Care to lend me a hand?"

"With pleasure!" said the Green Lantern, and they began to tie the mechanical behemoth all up in construct ropes. L4Z-R0W puffed its horrible self up and prepared to light-fry the two heroes but they were fast. Jaylah turbo-chopped the bot's left arm, making its light leak out then joined Khan for one final strike. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Khan replied. They joined hands as they made a construct sword with red and green light combined, and began spinning in a deadly helix straight towards L4Z-R0W's head.

Truly, it was a moment of triumph for both of them.

Their sword pierced straight through the bot's head, and when they opened their eyes, it was but a hunk of metal, drained of its light and it was all over. The two friends shared a triumphant smile, and Jaylah told Khan "You know the deal."

"I do." replied the Red Lantern. "Ring?"

Initiating blackout.

Outside, everyone saw the mother-ship's lights go out. The new plan was a huge success!

~cue Pomp And Circumstances~

Everyone watched as Khan and Jaylah emerged victorious, and behind them, the mother-ship went of in a marvelous explosion, making the two look cool until the after-effects sent them flying forward. Carol caught them and chuckled "That's why you look back at the explosion."

"Thanks for having my back." Shenara told Guy.

"Yeah, couldn't have done it without ya, knucklehead." Guy said.

"Don't mention it, toDSaH." Shenara smirked. "You're not bad for a human. You'd make a pretty decent Klingon!"

"Too bad I can't say the same for you. If you were a human, you'd still be an idiot." he replied, smirking as the Klingon bristled.

"Oi!"

Looking at that, the others simply laughed.

Back on Mogo, everyone celebrated the victory.

Hal pulled Sinestro into a fierce kiss, one which he happily gave back.

Kilowog flew around with Aldar in his arms. The warlord responded by kissing him. Something the Bolovaxian Lantern didn't expect, but enjoyed.

Guy and T'Lin looked at each other and embraced. Happy that they are alive.

Indigo-1 and her tribe cheered in victory. Carol and Bones joined in soon after.

John and Luen looked at each other and smiled as they shook hands.

Saint Walker and Nilani embraced while Sulu and Shiarrael patted each other in the arm, both smiling.

Scotty and Ferris kissed in victory. Anti-Matter Kirk tried to do the same with Anti-Matter Spock, but he glared at him. Only for the Vulcan to smirk later and kiss him himself.

Aya was sitting on the Enterprise's saucer section, relaxing.

Khan, Jaylah, Shenara and Saaya were celebrating with the Red Lanterns. "You did it, Khan Noonien. You did it." said Jaylah.

"No, pardner. We did it. We all did it." Khan told her.

They were soon joined by Kirk and Diana. "You did great." Kirk congratulated his frienemy.

"You're welcome." Khan remarked, and everyone laughed.

"So, what's the deal with you two?" asked Jaylah.

"Captain Kirk and I officially decided to start dating." Diana told her.

"That's great!" said Jaylah, and all six looked at the chaos below, after everything that had happened, well-fought and well-deserved, tried and true, in this moment of peace.

Have you ever noticed how tons of people read a story, but only, like, two review? You can change this by... Well, you know. ;)