Rebirth of Light

A Green Lantern Fiction

Chapter One

Alec Michaels lay across his uncomfortable couch. An empty bottle of Smirnoff Vodka dropped from his right hand. He scratched his unshaven face as he blinked his eyes to adjust to the light in the room. He groaned as he sat up and looked around his apartment.

There were empty bottles of whiskey, beer and vodka strewn around on the floor. His head pounded, but whether it was from all of the alcohol, or the banging on his door, he didn't know.

"Go away." He yelled, and quickly regretted it as the pain in his head doubled.

The knocking continued and Alec stood, four letter words escaping his lips. He hobbled over to the door and opened it. On the other side, stood his old friend Jason Stringer. He stood with his arms folded across his chest and a smirk on his face.

"Alec, you look like shit." Jason said as Alec ushered him into the apartment.

"Glad to see you still think highly of me." Alec responded as he collapsed back onto the couch.

Jason cleared the bottles off of the nearest chair and sat down. He looked at his longtime friend and sighed.

"Alec, why are you doing this to yourself?"

"You know why, Jason."

"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known."

Alec looked sharply at his friend. "Not my fault? Of course it was my fault. I gave her the ring. I asked her to join us. If I didn't do that, then she'd…"

"Still be alive? You don't know that, Alec."

"Yes I do, Jason."

"Alec, as much as she cared for you, she kept a secret from you."

Alec's head perked up, as did his attention. "What secret?"

"She didn't want you to know this, but since she's gone, I think you should know." Jason closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "She was dying. She had cancer and wasn't being treated for it. She said she wasn't going to waste her life trying to fight a disease that would kill her anyway. She wanted to spend her remaining time doing what she wanted. And she wanted to do it with you."

Alec rested his head in his hands and thought for a minute. His headache had not improved, and this news didn't help matters. He looked back up at his friend and sighed. "So tell me Jason. Why are you here now? To tell me that Crystal's death wasn't my fault? Or did you have an ulterior motive?"

"Actually Alec, I do have an ulterior motive." Jason fished around in his jacket and retrieved a small box that was intricately engraved with symbols from another world. In the center a circle surround a lantern. Alec knew exactly what it was and took it when Jason offered it to him.

"They want me back?" He asked.

"Yes. They say a dark force is rising, and they need the greatest warriors to fight it. You made a mistake and the Guardians believe that you have paid your debt."

"What if I refuse?"

"Think about it Alec. Don't answer too quickly, or you may regret your actions. You have only one chance. Refuse it, and you lose the choice." Jason said, standing to leave. "Choose wisely my friend." Jason left letting the door close by itself.

Alec sat staring at the intricately carved box for several hours. He vividly remembered the events that led up to his finding it in the first place. He had been on an archaeological excavation with his professor and mentor, Marcus Xavier. They had discovered an ancient temple in Peru that was of Inca design, but the writings around it were alien. Inside the temple were two passages. Xavier had taken the one passage while Alec took the other, all because he had a feeling that something was calling him. He entered a large, torch-lit cavern with the strange alien writing on the walls. In the center of the cavern was an altar illuminated by a shaft of light. Alec walked up to the altar and saw an intricately carved box with a lantern on the lid. He opened the box and inside was a green ring with the same lantern on it. It seemed to pulse with energy as he picked it up and placed it on his finger. In a flash of green light his clothes were changed into a black jumpsuit with green boots and gloves and green shoulders. The lantern was on his chest. Next to the altar was a pool of clear water, which Alec looked deep into. The image that was reflected back showed that his eyes were green and so was his hair. He was a bit shocked and fell back on his heals.

The ceiling began to crumble and fall as the ground shook. Alec quickly stood and ran back the way he had come. When the hallway behind him collapsed, he tried to run faster and realized he was flying and had a green aura around him. In just a few seconds he reached the main cavern and heard the screams of Professor Xavier coming from down the other corridor. He flew down the corridor and saw Xavier on the ground, his legs covered in rubble. He was screaming for help and reaching toward Alec.

Alec began to panic and didn't know what to do. He focused on thinking of ways to help his mentor. The ring began to glow and a beam extended from it surrounding the rubble. Alec 'picked' the rubble up and moved it off of his mentor. He landed on the ground, picked up Xavier and flew back the way he'd come and out of the temple. Once outside, Alec looked back towards the temple and watched as it collapsed and became nothing more than a pile of rubble. He looked at his mentor who was nursing his wounded legs and realized that he didn't recognize him with the green hair and eyes, and that he probably thought that he had not survived the destruction of the temple. Alec flew over the rubble and landed in the ruins. He dug a way into the destruction and came out several minutes later after tearing his shirt and pants. He was dressed in his original clothes and his hair and eyes were back to their normal color. Professor Xavier and the rest of the archaeologists asked about the guy who had rescued him, and Alec said that he didn't know where he had gone.

After a day or so of studying the ring, a little blue man dressed in a red robe with the lantern on his chest contacted Alec. He transported Alec to a planet he called Oa. Alec noticed that the strange alien writings that he had seen at the temple were all over this planet. The little blue man led Alec to a gigantic lantern surrounded by other blue men, which they called Guardians.

They explained to him that the Green Lanterns protected the universe from evil and all made an oath when they agree to become Green Lanterns. Alec had said that he would do everything that was within his power to help the universe and that he would gladly become a Green Lantern. The Guardians had only smiled and a smaller version of the large lantern had appeared before them. Alec grasped the lantern's handle and raised the ring to center of the lantern and spoke the oath of the Green Lanterns:

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!

Alec felt the ring charge up as green energy flowed from the lantern into the ring. He had become a Green Lantern, a guardian of the universe.

Alec found himself speaking the words of the oath once more as he opened the box and placed the ring on his finger. The green aura surrounded him once more, and his clothes where changed to the uniform of the Green Lantern. He stood, walked over to his mirror, and looked at his reflection. His hair was once again green, as were his eyes. He smiled as he noticed his face had been shaved, and he no longer felt the pain of his hangover.

He decided that it would be a good idea to clean up the apartment before he headed out to catch up with Jason. It would also give him some practice using the ring again, so he picked up the empty bottles and disposed of them using the ring's power. After the apartment was clean again, Alec walked into his room and opened his closet. Deep in the back covered by dirty laundry, was the battery he had received when he officially became a Green Lantern. He picked it up and charged the ring before heading out the window to find Jason.