Emerald Destiny
"I should have done this a long time ago, Sinestro!" the middle aged man in the green and black uniform spat into the face of his near-human adversary. His brown hair had sideburns of gray now, but his body still showed the strength it possessed when he was younger.
Sinestro merely tried to grunt, but the chokehold that he was being held in didn't make that possible. The maroon-colored alien tried to break free. Suddenly he felt his foe's free hand start to apply pressure to twist his head at a sideways angle.
CRACK. The sound carried far on the alien world, under the unearthly night sky with far too many stars that almost illuminated the area as if in daylight.
The grim-faced human looked down on the greatest foe that the Green Lanterns had ever known. A mockery, wearing the proud green, black and white of the Corps again. Resurrected just to fight him. Merely because he acted on his grief, his loss. His face twisted in anger as he pulled off the jade ring on his finger, dropping it to the ground.
He barely spared a glance at the diminutive blue aliens grouped together, talking and not taking action. In front of him, a gigantic metal lantern, carved as if from one shiny green metal ingot. Energy leaked from it, spreading an emerald hue on him.
As if ordained by destiny, he entered into it and disappeared.
"Our course of action is clear," said the first Guardian of the universe.
"Who shall we choose?" asked another of the blue skinned, white haired diminutive humanoids.
"Guanthet!" said a third.
"So it is decided."
"Wait!" the surprised Guanthet exclaimed.
Without warning, light erupted from the twenty foot tall lantern, glowing brighter and brighter, until the statuesque symbol of the Green Lantern Corps exploded.
From the wreckage strode the human. His colors were still green and black, but no longer was the proud lantern symbol worn. His impassive gaze swept to the drained and obviously dead 'Guardians'. A glint of metallic jade caught his attention.
A single step crushed his discarded ring. Without a further word, his power flung him into the air, faster and faster. He was now the last master of the emerald energy.
And he had many things, many wrongs to fix. Now that he had the power.
Moments after he had left, a single blue skinned figure crawled from the pile of lifeless corpses that had given their lives to save him.
Guanthet narrowed his eyes in thought. He floated towards the shattered ring, scooping it up. With a mere moments concentration, he refashioned it into a new ring. Different and new. A moment later he disappeared, becoming a streak of blue light that traversed the distance between stars as easily as a normal person would walk down a sidewalk.
-
Switch now to a different locale and the young girl sitting on the back steps of a traditional Japanese dojo. Her short hair and sweat covered gi spoke volumes of her untraditional outlook on life, mixed equally with a proud tradition as evidenced by the traditional dojo.
A cute pout was the most prominent feature on her face. In the night sky above her, a falling star lit up the area for just a moment, veering toward her.
The bright light illuminated the area, showing a very small man with blue skin and wearing a red robe. "You will have to do."
Akane Tendo blinked in astonishment as she took the proffered ring. "Uh, okay. Do what?"
"What must be done. There are many things that must be done to protect our universe against Jordan." And with that, he disappeared in another flash of light.
"I have to be dreaming." Or I ate some of my own cooking, she thought with a frown. I was so sure it was going to be right this time!
"Akane! Are you all right?" a panicked teen boy shouted as he bounded through the open door, looking around frantically.
"Of course I am!" Akane snapped, her earlier irritation rising up. "You don't have to watch over me all the time!"
"What? I ain't doing nothing of the sort! I just thought somebody had kidnapped you again!" Ranma snapped.
"I'm not helpless! I can defend myself, you know, Ranma!"
"Ha, you could have fooled me! You're so slow and clumsy you're lucky you don't trip and fall into some kidnappers hands."
"Ranma! You take that back!" the girl shouted. She swung a punch at the boy, missing him entirely.
"Nyah!" Ranma crowed as he dodged and danced away.
"Hmphf." Akane declined to follow, letting him get away with his taunt. She opened her clutched fist, showing the strange metal ring. She shrugged and walked into the house for a bath. On the ground behind her, a strange rough stone that softly glowed green lay in the bushes. Slowly its glow dimmed, leaving it hidden.
-
Akane tossed the ring on her bed as she toweled her hair dry. That Ranma could be so irritating. But he was always watching out for her. A small smile crept up on her lips. He really did care, somewhere in his crassness. He just didn't know how to let it show.
She picked up the ring after putting on her pajamas, sitting on her western style bed. After looking at it from all sides, she shrugged and put it on her right hand's ring finger. Sudden bright light filled the room, as she felt her loose and comfortable nightwear change to a full body tight, form- fitting outfit.
The blazing green energy diminished and faded, leaving Akane dumbfounded. It was just some sort of ring, right?
"What's going on?" Akane said to herself as she pulled out her little vanity mirror off of her desk.
It was still herself, but she was now wearing a little domino mask and a body hugging uniform. Slowly, it dawned on her, that she knew that uniform. It was the uniform of that American hero, the Green Lantern.
So who was the little blue man? And why was he giving the ring away? Was she supposed to become a super-hero? And he picked her to defend the world against... what was it? A Jor-Dan? Another alien?
A sudden rapping on her window startled her out of her thoughts.
"Akane? You all right?" Ranma called from where he hung from the roof's edge. "There was this weird light again!" Stupid drapes, how was he supposed to tell if Akane was all right if she kept them closed?
How do I get rid of the outfit? Akane thought panickly. Her sudden surge of will turned off the outfit, leaving her back in her normal sleeping clothes. "That was easy!"
"Akane!" Maybe he should just open the window and go in?
"Ranma! What do you think you are doing?" Akane asked, her temper flaring as she flung open the drapes and window.
"Uh, I saw a weird light again." Uh, oh. Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!
"And just what were you watching my room for?" Akane inquired icily. That pervert!
"I was just on the roof, um, watching the stars. It's not like I'd want to peep on your dorky body anyways!" Ranma snapped back unthinkingly.
"Really?" Suddenly, books and other items started to fly out the window, narrowly missing the hanging martial artist as he dodged frantically.
"Nyah! Can't hit the broad side of a ba-arn-urgk!" The dumbbell that had been saved for last cut off Ranma's jibe. Ranma landed on his head with a neck-jarring thud. "Owie."
"Serves you right, Ranma!" Akane called from up above.
"You are so-o-o dorky, you know that?" Ranma yelled back up.
Akane's answer was to drop another box full of weights on him.
"Urgk!"
Thoughts of her ring were driven from her mind by the need for sleep and Ranma's intrusion.
-
Akane dashed home, eager to get her homework done and go over to her friend's house like she'd planned. Suddenly, she felt an itching on her finger, from the strange new ring. She stared at it blankly for a moment, before remembering what it really was and what this probably meant.
She ducked down an alleyway and with a mere thought, had switched to the Green Lantern's uniform.
"So, now what?" Akane asked rhetorically. No answer ensued from any omniscient advisor. Or even a cute magical animal that should have just appeared. She guessed that she'd been chosen to be a new Green Lantern, but beyond that, she was lost.
She scratched her head. Well, from the pictures she remembered, he could fly (she thought) and blast things. With a shrug, she tried to concentrate about flying up into the air.
"YEOW!" Akane screamed as she rocketed into the air, green energy flowing around her. She wobbled but then caught herself.
"Okay, I'm flying. I'm really flying," Akane said to herself, trying to calm herself down. She shifted the focus to the ring on her right hand and the itching sensation. Just like that, she veered towards the east, heading out over the city.
Mere moments later, she was flying over the docks of Tokyo Bay and zeroing in on an unassuming freighter. As she got closer, she realized that it had an odd bubble of black energy covering the back of it. Near the edge of it, on deck, she saw several crumpled humans. The crew?
Landing with a thump, she bent down to see how they were doing. With startling suddenness, the prone figure grabbed her, twisting and throwing her up against a wall. All of the crew leaped to their feet, callous grins broke out among them.
"So, Dr. Light you finally arrived!" the first one spoke as he stood up quickly, taking three steps and kicking at her. "Eh?"
Akane shook off her stupor and caught the kick with one hand. With her free hand, she flipped to her feet. "Do I look like Dr. Light? She wears a yellow and white costume! I'm wearing green and black!"
The group of thugs had noticed and stopped in confusion. "Who are you?"
The guy right next to him shrugged and yelled out, "Who cares? Take her out so we can be ready for Dr. Light!"
With that, the group of five men charged the young girl, swinging punches and blackjacks. The newest Green Lantern casually ducked and blocked all of the attackers. "I'm Green Lantern! And you guys are no threat!"
The ruffians were finding that out the hard way. All punches were blocked or just outright dodged. One, then another, then finally a series of five blows laid low the thugs.
Akane nodded in satisfaction. She might not be the best martial artist in Nerima anymore, but she was still good. She turned towards the inky darkness, her hand slowly reaching out to touch it. Nothing happened, except that her hand dipped in without resistance.
Midnight Psycho frowned from the freighter's bridge where he'd just noticed the intruder on his meticulously laid out plans. Who was this strange girl? She was wearing the uniform of the Green Lantern, but wasn't using her ring. If she had one. The lithe and blackly clad oriental frowned. He reached into his leather jacket and pulled out his darkness gun. The darkness generator would last for a while yet, even while being countered by any source of light. He rechecked the power level of the gun, squinting behind his special red-tinted goggles.
He looked up to see what the Green Lantern was doing. Fool, she was wandering around blindly. She wasn't even using the ring to generate light.
This is dumb, Akane thought to herself. It's too dark to see anything. "Now what?" she asked herself. She couldn't see anything to blast and flying would be just stupid. If only she had a light. She blinked at a flash of green light from her ring, a light that flickered out when she jumped.
Midnight Psycho frowned. What was she doing?
You just have to think about it! Akane thought excitedly. She raised her left hand suddenly, as spark of emerald energy jumping off of it as if in excitement. "Light!" she commanded unconsciously.
The last power ring of Oa answered, letting loose a bright light that illuminated the area around her for ten feet. "Yes!" Akane frowned in thought, the bubble of light shrinking around her momentarily.
Midnight Psycho frowned. Hmm. About the same that Dr. Light could generate.
It's based on thought? Akane thought to herself. No! It's based on concentration! Willpower! Light surged across the deck, showing that she was right!
On the bridge, a two foot cylinder of metal started to hum, indented red lights blinking, trying to counteract the light being generated within its area of affect. It soon started to whine, its exotic engines fighting against a relentless tide of emerald light.
The Japanese villain of darkness swore under his breath. What power! He must take that ring for himself! He shattered the bridge window with the gun in his hand, aiming the moment it was gone.
From behind him, the whine of tortured energies turned into a howl for just a second, before overloading. The explosion blew him clear out of the bridge, leaving him dazed on the deck, a mere twenty feet from the newest Green Lantern.
"Damn. How can this be?" he muttered dazedly.
"What? Wait? I recognize you, you're a foe of Dr. Light! Midnight Psycho!" Akane exclaimed.
With the grace of a cat, Midnight Psycho rolled to his feet. "Nice to know that I'm well recognized. And you are the Green Lantern? Aren't you a little young, girl?"
"Huh? So what?" Akane rebutted angrily. "And I yes, I am the Green Lantern now!"
"You don't sound very sure. So, you're a newbie. Well, I'm not going to let my plans be disrupted by a neophyte. And that ring will fit nicely on my finger after I kill you!" With that, he snapped a shot off, hoping to surprise her.
Akane ducked instinctively, hearing the sound of crashing metal behind her. A quick glance showed that the dark energy had blasted a three foot section of the deck to smithereens. "Oh, crud!" she cried out, ducking another blast. She pointed the ring at Midnight Psycho and thought of it blasting him. She was rewarded with a green beam of energy that nearly took off the villain's head.
Dr. Light flashed across the bay, worry etched on her face. How had Midnight Psycho learned about the shipment of equipment for S.T.A.R. labs? And more importantly, how had learned of the fifteen grams of anti-matter that it carried? She was going to have words with the person in charge of this fiasco!
Wait! What was that light?
Midnight Psycho flicked a switch on the high tech darkness gun he carried. "Dodge this, Green Lantern!" he shouted holding down the trigger of the gun, unleashing a fully automatic burst of energy, striking the entire area.
Akane nearly panicked, even as the ring materialized a glowing, transparent curved wall in front of her. It can make things?
"No! This can't be happening!"
Akane suddenly dashed toward him, spinning a vicious kick into his stomach. Midnight Psycho was lifted off the ground and rocketed across the deck, slamming painfully up against the bridge wall. He struggled to his feet, groaned once and collapsed.
"Yay! I got him!" Akane shouted as she danced around.
"Yes, you did! Now, you'd better be ready to answer some questions!" the white and yellow clothed Dr. Light said. Her cape fluttered in the wind from where she floated in the air above the water.
"Oh, wow! It's Dr. Light," Akane gushed.
"Uh, yes." Dr. Light was taken back by the awed reaction. "So you're one of the Green Lanterns Corps?"
"Corps? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about?" Akane replied. She squinted in concentration, lifting off the ground. She could get to like this.
"So you just found this ring lying around?" the older woman asked. That uniform looked authentic.
"No, this little blue guy gave it to me. He was wearing a red robe with the same symbol." Now that she thought about it, that was kind of odd. Who was that?
"Little blue guy? A Guardian, I think. Hmm." Dr. Light frowned. She really didn't know much more than that the Guardians created the GL Corps. And gave them the rings to use to defend the galaxy.
"Is that what he was? He didn't stay around very long."
"So what do you plan to do with the ring?" the older super-hero asked.
"Well... be a hero of course! It's a martial artist's duty to protect those weaker than you!"
"Really?" Dr. Light thought for a second. "You're new, of course. Let me give you a bit of advice. Don't tell anyone who you are. Or what you do. Even me. If you have family or loved ones, you need to protect them. That means hiding who you are. Even from them."
"But you don't wear a mask."
"I've sometimes wished I had thought about that first."
"Oh."
Dr. Light looked west, towards Tokyo. "You should leave. The coastal patrol will be here soon. Along with reporters and their cameras."
"Thanks, Dr. Light! I'll remember." With that, she took off, faster than a rocket. In moments, she'd disappeared across the horizon.
"Hmm. I think that life might just have become more interesting here in Tokyo." Dr. Light shrugged and turned back to take Midnight Psycho into custody, only to find him long gone. "Grr. He played possum again."
-
Akane drifted across Nerima, floating high in the sky. She had to think for a moment. What was she going to do? Dr. Light had mentioned that she needed to hide that she was the Green Lantern. But how? Nabiki was too nosey and Ranma would be sure to notice the ring too, if she kept it on for very long.
That was it! She zoomed across the sky, headed for the local mall.
-
Around the gigantic hulking figure, guards in high tech armor lay limp and broken. His stubby hands grabbed another guard before he could run, snapping his neck instantly. Insane and over-powerful super-humans were gleefully decimating the guards and freeing themselves.
"Green Lantern! I will kill Superman and the one called... Green Lantern!" shouted Mongul the conqueror.
A blast struck him from behind, coming from the air above.
"Don't move or I'll fire again, with lethal force!" the new guard said as he flew down to the ground on the large rocket pack he wore.
"Fool!" Mongul called out, snagging the hapless guard easily. "You will tell me where the one called Superman is! Now! Or I'll crush you!"
"I-I don't know. He's gone missing and hasn't been seen in a while." The jailer was now all too aware of his impending mortality. The crushing grip threatened to kill him almost instantly.
"What of the one known as Green Lantern?" Mongul asked, his large and brutish face only inches away from the hapless man.
"I think I heard something about a Green Lantern being sighted in Tokyo!" the uniformed man babbled.
"Huh. Our second target city. Very well." He pulled the rocket pack off the guard. "You will not need this anymore." With a flick of his wrists, he mashed the guard through a concrete wall, killing him instantly.
With a thundering roar, the rocket threw him into the air.
-
A green hand picked up the small cat in the tree and hoisted it to the ground. A little girl squealed in joy at the return of her pet. "You take care!" Akane called out as she flew off.
Moments later she landed in a small alley, slipping the ring off and slipping it into necklace. A second later, she was walking down the street, headed towards her home.
"There you are, Akane!" Ranma called out as he trotted along a fence top. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Eh? What's up, Ranma?" Akane asked.
"Not much. It just seems you disappear at times." Ranma scowled at her. At least Ryoga wasn't around and neither was Kuno. He'd been worried that she was starting to hang out with them, their protests not withstanding.
"I just felt like a walk. You don't have to hover over me!"
Ranma opened his mouth, but suddenly looked up, his sixth sense warning him of an impending attack. Ranma scooped up Akane and leaped away. A huge figure crashed into the ground, right where they had been.
"Green Lantern! Come fight me, so that I might grind you beneath my heel!" Mongul shouted, stepping out of the cratered concrete. His sensors had pinpointed this as the last emission of the exotic energy they used.
Ranma set his fiancée down a good distance away. "I don't know who you are, but nobody attacks Akane and gets away with it!" Ranma leaped the entire distance, a perfect leap kick that barely moved the superhuman jugernaught.
Behind both of them, Akane fumbled with locket, opening it and sliding the ring onto her finger.
"Boy, I don't care who you are, give me the Green Lantern!" Mongul shouted; throwing a massive punch that was easily ducked.
"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked, launching a hundred kicks into his stomach. The much larger humanoid barely flinched.
"He's not the Green Lantern, I am!" she boomed out, lashing out with a beam of emerald light.
Mongul was actually staggered by that, his brow creasing in surprise. "Who are you, girl?"
Akane floated up, a soft glow covering her body. "I already said that! I'm the new Green Lantern."
Nah, that couldn't be! But, maybe it was. He hoped he was wrong. "Hey, we aren't finished fighting, ugly!" Ranma called out, snapping a full strength crescent kick into the yellow alien's jaw.
The gigantic alien shook his head. "You are annoying me, gnat. Die!" His huge blow missed the agile martial artist, but struck the ground so hard that the concrete exploded, striking Ranma's back like Ryoga's breaking point. His limp body was flung into the air.
"Ranma!" Akane cried out, letting herself be distracted.
Mongul leaped the forty feet in one bound, tackling the much smaller figure and smashing through a store's wall. "Now you die, Green Lantern!" the yellow skinned alien shouted, smashing the green and black garbed figure deep into the ground.
"That is enough, Mongul! Cease and desist. This is your final warning!" a resonant voice called from the air.
Mongul looked over his shoulder, seeing a red caped figure eclipsing the sun, the martial artist being held in one easy grasp. "You are not Superman!"
"Of course not! I am the Martian Manhunter!" the emerald-skinned alien said concisely.
"I have already slain the Green Lantern. I will not be stopped by the likes of you. If you bar my path to the Kryptonian, I will kill you!"
The ground suddenly rumbled as a blunt green missile struck him from the earth and flinging the remorseless destroyer into the air. "I'm not done with you yet!" A small tear and much grime marred her clothing. She floated slowly towards her attacker.
"Hey, let me go!" Ranma said as he finally shook off the daze that he'd been in. With surprising strength, he eluded the Martian's grip, ripping his shirt in the process. He bounced twice and snapped a vicious spin kick at Mongul that stunned him for a second.
The Martian Manhunter blinked in surprise, but immediately zoomed in to hit his foe with a double fisted punch, aided by his flying speed.
Mongul rubbed his jaw. This was becoming burdensome. He had to remove one of the players from the field. His right hand adjusted the square blaster that was mounted on his chest. "I will deal with you in a moment, Martian. Die, Green Lantern!" With that he sent out a yellow beam of energy that struck a hastily raised green wall. "What? Impossible! Your powers have a yellow weakness!"
"Huh?" Akane replied, her brow furrowing in concentration.
"Indeed, how you can even affect Mongul is amazing. But that is not here nor now." Red eye beams of scorching energy blasted into the marauding alien, barely moving him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. My ring works just fine on yellow things!" With that, Akane blasted out with a beam of energy, following up the Martian Manhunter's own attack and knocking Mongul off guard again.
"Hey, ugly, how can you expect to deal with them, when you can't even hurt me?" Ranma catcalled, dancing around the much larger biped. "I don't even have super powers and you can't beat me!"
The much stronger and larger alien sneered and punched at the dodging target. And kept punching at him, following him relentlessly.
"The fool!" the Martian said loudly. "Mongul is too powerful to enter into a fight if you have no powers."
"Wait! He knows what he's doing!" the much smaller girl said, putting a hand on his shoulders to restrain.
"You must be joking!"
"No! Watch!"
"Why won't you just die, human?" Mongul shouted.
"You asked for it! Hiryu Shotan HA!" the pig-tailed martial artist called out, punching upwards into the air. A cyclone of monstrous proportions suddenly swirled into existence, sucking Mongul up into the air.
Mongul felt as if he'd been blasted with some stupendous power. For long moments, he was in the air, until finally the tornado of force finally spent itself, letting him fall to the hard ground below. "Ung. That is... impossible." Mongul slowly pulled himself out of the crater, just in time to note the sun being occluded by a very large object.
A gigantic hammer smashed the alien back down, leaving him very unconscious. "Yay! Got him!" Akane crowed. She floated down to land next to Ranma.
"So what's with the outfit?" Ranma asked, gesturing at her.
"Er, what do you mean?"
"Come on, Akane. Like that mask really hides much of your face."
"Perhaps it would be better to continue this someplace more private?" the Martian Manhunter interrupted suddenly.
"Huh?" The popping of flash bulbs from cameras caught all of their attention. "Oh! Uh, bye!" Akane rocketed into the air and out of sight.
"It would be best if I departed too." And with that, the Martian Manhunter disappeared from view, literally.
"Oh, that's just great!" Ranma complained. A burst of water exploded from the ravaged concrete that lay underneath the fallen alien suddenly drenched the now female martial artist. "Gah!" Ranma cried out, hoping to a local roof and running off, almost faster than the eye could follow. She did not want her curse on the front of the paper.
Flashing lights on top of military land cruisers showed in the distance as the JSDF finally showed up to take charge of the incarceration of the dangerous villain.
Noting this, Martian Manhunter decided to follow the martial artists. Flying silently above the transmogrified martial artist, the green alien that had become one of Earth's greatest defenders followed silently. He had become quite interested in the two, as they seemed to know each other.
His hunch paid off as the martial artist hopped over a fence into a rustic homestead, where a girl that closely matched the new Green Lantern was waiting. He noted the furtive look of the martial artist as she tried to look over the area for someone spying on them.
"So what's going on, Akane?" Ranma asked; an overly cute pout on her lips.
"Do you remember that light that one night? A blue alien gave me the ring and told me that I had to use it, to protect the world."
Ranma opened her mouth, but was suddenly drenched with hot water from a glowing green cup. "That's kind of handy. So you're a super-heroine now?" He puffed out his chest in sudden machismo. "I don't need no stupid ring to fight bad guys."
"Well excuse me for not being the best martial artist around. This is my chance to do some good. To not be... useless." Akane gulped suddenly. "This is important to me, okay? Don't... don't mess it up, please."
"Uh, okay. I guess." Ranma suddenly changed the direction of the conversation. "So, how do you do the school thing and being a super hero?"
"I may have to miss some school. I hope it isn't too bad. I'm just barely getting caught up after Jusendo!"
With that, their invisible and mysterious watcher floated away. There was a high school nearby. The heroically muscled alien landed nearby and shifted his form as easily as most people combed their hair. In moments, Yuchiro Takata, reputable businesswoman, walked into the halls of Furinkan High School.
"Excuse me, could you direct me to the Principal's office? I wish to submit a proposal to him," the striking (but very human looking) woman asked.
"Uh, are you sure?" the janitor asked.
"Yes."
"Just down this hall, you can't miss it. Look for the palm trees."
She followed the directions, being shocked at the realistic panorama of the Hawaiian beach. "Uh, excuse me. Are you the... Principal?" she inquired of the brightly colored man lying on a lounge chair. He seemed to have a palm tree growing out of the top of his head.
"Yo got it! How can I help a pretty wahine like you?" Principal Kuno flashed his best smile and watched for some sort of reaction from the rather severe woman.
"I feel drawn to do a bit of good will work. I am a busy woman, but I would like to donate ten million yen to this school and help mold the future of our wondrous heritage. I would like to help by being a part time substitute teacher, filling in when I can."
"Ten million yen? Heya, I recognize you. Furinkan would be honored to have you join our faculty."
Yuchiro Takata, aka Martian Manhunter, had an odd sinking feeling in her stomach. How come this suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea?
-
Ranma and Akane glared at each other across the open aisle in the classroom. Neither would remember who had started the latest fight, or over what, but both were more than willing to show their displeasure.
Yuchiro shook her head in amazement. They both had good hearts, it was terribly obvious. And to a telepath of her caliber, their suppressed love was even shown. So why did they act so horribly to each other? "All right, class. I want you to finish reading chapter two in preparation for the quiz on Monday."
Muffled groans answered her, even as all of the students slammed their books into their bags and got to their feet.
"Ranma, may I speak to you. Privately?" she asked pointedly.
The boy in question nearly jumped out of his seat, quickly glancing over to the teacher. "Uh, sure."
Akane almost stayed, but at the last moment waved to Ranma. "I'm going to head home!"
The last student closed the door behind them, leaving the two alone.
"Ranma, I've heard about your curse and I was wondering if you had actually talked to anyone about it?" The disguised Martian looked deeply into the mind of Ranma Saotome.
Ranma blink-blinked in surprise. "Um, no. No reason to, really." This new teacher really spooked him out.
"You feel nothing when you are forced to change genders?"
"Not... really. It's not something I like to talk about, Ms. Takata."
Yuchiro sighed even as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "That's what I was trying to talk about. Something like that could be weighing on your mind. I'm no expert, of course, but I really think you need to come to terms with this change to you." A lie, of course. She was an expert of changes to the body and how it affected the mind.
"I'll, uh, think about it." Ranma turned quickly.
"I will be here if you need someone to talk to. Thank you for your time. You may leave now."
Ranma nodded and took off. He ran down the stairs and out side. A single bound took him over the walls, where he slowed down. A look of concentration took over. He hated to admit it, but maybe he did need to think things through a bit. And maybe talk to someone too.
But who?
-
Akane opened the house door and inhaled, ready to call out her customary greeting, when she heard a cry.
"Please, I don't know what you want!" a girl sobbed.
"Where... Green... Lantern!" growled a very coarse, foreign voice.
"Green Lantern? I don't know-arghk!" A sickening crack sound reverberated thru the house.
"Where Green Lantern!" he yelled out again. His frustration was palpable.
"Leave her alone!" Akane yelled out, even as she slipped on the ring. She slid into the living room, clothed again in the familiar, masked uniform of the Green Lantern.
A maroon, hulking figure released the bleeding and bruised body from his grasp, her arm's bones twisted cruelly and showing thru tears in the skin. "Finally, someone who speaks a real language! You, Green Lantern, I'm here for that ring. Give it to me and I won't kill you!" His hand glowed with strange energies. His interrogation hadn't been working too well with the young housewife, anyways. He'd hoped for more time alone to get the information he needed.
"Kasumi! You hurt... You bastard!" Her will formed a mighty, serpentine dragon-beam that slammed the man out through the wall. "You'll pay for that!" Without a thought, she leapt out after him.
"You're not bad, girl." He stripped the remains of the normal coveralls that he'd been wearing. "Doesn't matter, 'cause I'm invulnerable. You can call me Major Force. Or your death!" Both hands blossomed with scarlet fire that slammed into a green wall that shuddered under the attack.
Sweat beading on her brow, a metallic katana appeared in her hand even as the wall became more solid. A burst of will threw her at the dojo's wall, allowing herself to slip behind him and slash with her new weapon, slicing into his back. It was harder to keep the weapon formed than normal.
"You cut me! You bitch!" Major Force shouted, crushing the wall behind her with his immense blow.
"How could you harm an innocent like that?" Her ring blasted out again, smashing into the metallic looking body of her foe.
"It was easy. Her goody-goody attitude sickened me!" Purplish energy slammed into a European type shield that Akane conjured up.
The shield held for just a moment and then shattered, flinging her across the yard and up against the outer wall. "What's going on?" she said to herself, shaking her head.
"Ha! I knew you couldn't stand up to my power! I'm going to kill you now, girl!" He tromped over and attempted to smash into her with both fists.
She ducked to the side and attempted to blast him with the ring while punching, trying to increase the blows' power. The ring gave off a feeble glow and then went out! "No!"
Major Force said something in English too fast for her to follow. With a laugh, he blasted her with a low power punch that flung her away, bleeding and bruised.
"Akane! You creep!" a new voice cried out from the hole in the house.
"Back off or Die!" Major Force warned in very poor Japanese. He lashed out with another beam of energy that blew an opening right thru the house.
"Way too slow, jerk!" Ranma crowed, merely flowing around the attack. A lifetime's training, a will indominatible formed within his cupped hands. "Mouko Takabishi!" he shouted out, throwing one of the largest ki blasts of his life. These super-villains were just too tough to take out with mere punches!
The super villain braced himself, shrugging off the attack. If he'd been less invulnerable, he might have felt that. "Hah! Is that the best you can do?" he cried out in English.
Akane coughed and rolled over. How could the ring have failed her? She turned over to see Ranma putting up a valiant fight, but even in her hurt state, she could see that he wasn't hurting Major Force in the slightest.
"Ranma!"
"Akane! What happened?" Ranma called out, ducking another blast that left a ten foot crater behind him.
"I don't know, the ring just died and won't work!" Akane called back, almost in tears. She was going to be a hero! She wasn't going to be useless anymore.
"Crap. I found a glowing green rock behind the dojo after you found the ring! Maybe it can fix it! It's under the center of the dojo!" Ranma yelled back, barely dodging another blast, his pigtail being chopped three inches shorter, releasing his hair.
With a pained heave, Akane got back to her feet and stumbled towards the dojo's open door.
A near hit from Major Force sent her stumbling. He yelled out something unintelligible in English again, pointing his hand at her threateningly.
Akane looked around frantically. Where was the rock? Wait, he said under the dojo. "Hiya!" she cried out, smashing a large hole into the floor. She saw a glow of green as she fumbled. Her hands grasped onto the roughness of the rock, only to feel it flow and change.
"What the hell?" Major Force yelled out, gaping in astonishment at the oddly glowing Japanese stone lantern that she held.
With a brilliant flash of emerald brilliance, her wounds and scrapes disappeared. She might not have towered over him, but all of a sudden she seethed with energy and power, causing Major Force to take an involuntary step backwards.
Ranma dove to the side, even as the largest oriental dragon he'd ever seen appeared. It roared even as its claws smashed Major Force into a huge crater. Even as it pulled its claw back, a fiery gout of flame engulfed the hapless villain.
Ranma whistled from the side. The pure power of that ring was amazing. Ranma winced as Akane blasted the man again and again, a rictus of rage stamped on her features. Ouch. He'd been on the receiving end of that rage before.
"Stop!" a diamond hard voice commanded. "He's beaten." Floating majestically, the Martian Manhunter's presence was a tangible thing, demanding obedience.
Akane floated there for a second, her mouth open. She shook her head, releasing her will. "Yeah. I guess he is." She took a deep breath suddenly. "It's just that he hurt... Kasumi!" she wailed, zooming into the house.
Ranma and the Martian Manhunter followed just a moment later. The Green Lantern knelt beside her older sister. She looked up as they entered. "I... I don't know what to do! She's been hurt so badly! Can't lose her too. Can't lose..."
She was interrupted by the green skinned alien. "Will the ring to heal her." The Martian's ruby eyes stared at her intently.
"But..."
"Will it to heal her." He overrode her objections with his steadfast gaze.
A look of intense determination and concentration appeared on her, sweat on her brow from her intense efforts. A soft green glow suffused Kasumi's skin. The unconscious young woman grimaced at the intense pain of her bones resetting, flesh knitting at amazing speeds.
In just a few moments Kasumi's skin was unblemished with any wound, the only sign that she'd been hurt were the blood stains on her dress. With a sob, Akane grabbed her sister in a desperate hug, crying like a small child.
A few minutes later, which Ranma and the Martian Manhunter stood silent vigil; Akane finally calmed down and looked up. "...thank you..." they managed to hear, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible. Her eyes strayed down to the ring. "I can't keep this. I'll just hurt my family more." She took off the ring and tossed it violently outside. After that, she collapsed onto her oldest sister again.
"I... understand, I think. It is your choice, but you should be aware that others may come looking for you now." He nodded to her and then floated outside to pick up Major Force. With sure movements, he flew into the air.
Ranma reached out carefully, putting his hand on Akane's shoulder. The young girl's snapped to meet his own, wild and unsure. With the precision of a wrestling takedown, she latched onto her fiancé like he was the most important thing in the world, sobbing wildly.
He couldn't do anything but rock her slightly, his arms lapped loosely back around her.
"What happened here?" an outraged female voice called out. A moment later, Nabiki stormed in to see the three figures. Ranma and Akane being so intimate and caring for one another would normally have been her only focus, but the still lying figure, stained in blood, captured her view fully. "Kasumi?" The middle Tendo sister knelt down, shaking her older sister's shoulder.
"Umm. Tired. Want to go back to sleep," Kasumi muttered unhappily.
"Kasumi! Wake up! What's going on?" Nabiki shouted out.
"What? Oh, Nabiki! I had the most horrid dream. I dreamed a mean man made out of purple metal was hurting me!" Kasumi said as she shook herself awake.
"You aren't being coherent, sis. What purple man?" Nabiki now had a perplexed look on her face.
"He was looking for the Green Lantern," Akane said softly, not releasing her fiancé. "There's no Green Lantern here anymore."
"Hey, you should go lie down now, Akane." Ranma's face was etched with worry.
"..." Akane thought about it a second. "Maybe." She smiled wanly, nodding an affirmative finally. She released her fiancé and headed up the stairs.
"All right, Ranma! You'd better start talking. And fast!" Nabiki demanded loudly from downstairs.
"Um, well, it's kind of like this..." Ranma started even as his voice drifted out of her hearing range.
Walking woodenly, Akane opened her door and settled down on her bed. It was starting to get dark, several hours later when she looked away from the ceiling. She'd heard in the distance the hammering of repair work. That had been probably been Ranma and the fathers fixing what they could of the mess.
Her room was suddenly lit up an ethereal emerald hue. "Green Lantern." The strangely garbed blond Caucasian was looking right at her.
"I'm not Green Lantern." Her breath caught in her throat. Was it another attacker? She was reminded of the Martian Manhunter's words about other people hunting her.
"Actually, you're the only one that can be the Green Lantern now. The ring will only respond to you, as I discovered." The garishly cloaked and garbed man turned over his fist, opening it to reveal the ring. "That boy was very persistent in trying to keep it away from me. I am the Sentinel."
"Ranma? You didn't hurt him, did you?" Akane cried out suddenly.
"No! Well, not much," the old man chuckled. "He's a real scrapper, isn't he? Actually gave me a run for my money."
"So why did you come here?" Akane asked suspiciously. She clenched her fists nervously, ready for a fight.
"We need the Green Lantern to stop Jordan."
"The Jordan?" Akane queried.
"The ...? No, Hal Jordan, the previous Green Lantern has gone insane and power mad. He's on a quest to remake reality, getting rid of all those mistakes that he feels shouldn't have happened. He doesn't care who gets in his way."
"Hal... Jordan? You mean, the old Green Lantern is the... badguy?"
"Yes, and you are the only Green Lantern now. I am too old to be the Green Lantern again. Now. And I've already failed to stop him. I was almost aged to death. You must take up the ring. Untold billions of people will die if he succeeds." The Sentinel's expression was grim.
"Billions?" Akane could scarcely believe what she was hearing. "My family?"
"The entire universe."
"I... I'll do it. For my family!" Akane proclaimed determinedly, a new fire lit within her. She took the ring and put it on. Thinking back for a moment, she grabbed the lantern that Ranma must have brought up here. Energy crackled off of it, seemingly refilling the ring.
"Hmm. You might want to take the lantern with you. Who knows when you might make it back to recharge?"
"Right! So we are off?" Akane asked, garbed again in the Green Lantern's uniform.
The other ring wielder nodded, floating up through the ceiling.
"I can go thru things? Hey, wait up!" she called out, willing her ring to follow.
-
"Sorry, old friend, but you won't be stopping anything," Hal Jordan, now Parallax, said to the stunned heroes that were assembled around him. The unconscious Superman's head and torso was only being held up by his cape, firmly in his green clad grasp.
"It's really him, Hal Jordan!" Guy Gardner stammered out in surprise. He shifted his techno-organic arms into cannon looking weapons.
"He was behind it all?"
"I've taken the name Parallax now. I've traveled to the beginning of time and back, learning and gaining the power that I need to fix everything. I won't let you stop me!"
"You creep! You erased Tokyo!" the young female Green Lantern screamed out, sending a solid beam of green energy at him. "You killed my family!" You killed Ranma! she screamed internally.
Parallax staggered under the attack for a moment, before shrugging it off like a shower of rain. "Not bad, girl. But that won't stop me!" His own attack was far more potent, sending the young woman bowling, knocking over the other heroes.
Akane wiped the blood from her lip. She couldn't let him destroy the universe! She just couldn't! Taking a hold of her invisible lantern, she let it become seen, its power directly funneling into the ring. "Parallax! I won't let you win!" she screamed out, an incredible surge of energy forming in front of her.
"What?" Parallax said, turning to face her. He ignored the other heroes preset, seeing a serious attack forming. Whole worlds could be destroyed with that sort of energy! He blasted out with his own green energy, meeting the wave of energy she sent at him head on.
Akane, the last Green Lantern, gritted her teeth, pulling even more on her immense willpower. But eventually, even that met its match with the greatest wielder of the Emerald Energy.
"You're too dangerous to leave where you can come back and challenge me again. I'll make sure that you'll never come back!" Parallax snarled. She had just too much power to outright destroy. But she wasn't prepared to be ejected into the farthest regions of existence, even further than he had traveled.
"No!" she screamed just a consciousness fled her battered body.
A seeming eternity later, she groaned and woke herself up. Whiteness met her masked gaze, wherever she looked. She focused on her ring, trying to detect anything.
She floated, curled up in a ball. 'Kasumi. Nabiki. Daddy. Ranma,' she bewailed to herself.
-
"I wasn't able to find Green Lantern. It's like she doesn't even exist anymore!" Waverider announced to the assembled heroes as he reappeared in a burst of rainbow energy.
"Poor kid. That's not a pleasant way to go."
Batgirl nodded. "She said that she'd lost her family and fiancé to the entropy wave."
Superman shook his head. "We have to stop him. Too many people have been hurt."
-
Akane frowned. She was bored. And hungry.
And getting angry! It was obvious that Waverider wasn't going to be able to find her now, like they'd planned. So it was up to her. And the ring, of course! Maybe they've already won and all she had to do was get home somehow.
Home to her family. And that idiot... Ranma. She stifled a sob. How could she even think of him like that? After he died, trying to save Nabiki and Father? And she hadn't been able to do anything to stop it!
She focused her will on the ring. Find Ranma, she commanded it. The ring flared bright against overwhelming whiteness. Suddenly, she felt a small tug off into the vast unknown. "Yes!" she cried out. She knew that he couldn't be killed!
She flew off, pushing herself to travel in the strange, unknown ether. After hours of traveling, she came across a battered and bruised form floating in the void.
"Ranma!" she cried. Her green aura encompassed him.
Ranma reflexively inhaled as air became available. It had been such a long time. With air, came coughing. Who was that, trying to talk to him?"
Akane threw off her mask, letting it dissolve into the void. "Oh, Gods, I thought he'd killed you!"
"Huh? Akane?" She was alive? But he'd thought that... His thinking was interrupted by her throwing herself into a tight hug. Ranma smiled, his heart relaxing. He must have been mistaken. He started to blink, his eyes starting to come into focus.
"Yes, you silly. Now we have to get out of here. Wherever here is, anyways." Great. How?
Ranma glanced around, seeing absolutely nothing for as far as he could see. "Where are we? All I remember is getting blasted and thinking I was going to die!"
"I've got it!" Akane crowed suddenly. 'Ring, take me to Japan by the fastest means possible!' Her willpower surged, green energy flaring in response. Someplace Ranma and I can be happy, she hoped.
"Huh? Where did you get...?" Ranma started to ask, when the void around them turned into a rainbow of coruscating colors, seemingly traveling around them like they were in an immense tunnel. With a burst of light, they appeared above a forest.
"Where are we?" Akane asked, spinning around in the air, trying to see a familiar sight. Ranma tumbled to the ground lightly, five feet below.
"Say, what are you doing in that Green Lantern getup?" Ranma asked, turning his head to look at her closely.
"Dummy! I am Green Lantern, now!"
"I should have done this a long time ago, Sinestro!" the middle aged man in the green and black uniform spat into the face of his near-human adversary. His brown hair had sideburns of gray now, but his body still showed the strength it possessed when he was younger.
Sinestro merely tried to grunt, but the chokehold that he was being held in didn't make that possible. The maroon-colored alien tried to break free. Suddenly he felt his foe's free hand start to apply pressure to twist his head at a sideways angle.
CRACK. The sound carried far on the alien world, under the unearthly night sky with far too many stars that almost illuminated the area as if in daylight.
The grim-faced human looked down on the greatest foe that the Green Lanterns had ever known. A mockery, wearing the proud green, black and white of the Corps again. Resurrected just to fight him. Merely because he acted on his grief, his loss. His face twisted in anger as he pulled off the jade ring on his finger, dropping it to the ground.
He barely spared a glance at the diminutive blue aliens grouped together, talking and not taking action. In front of him, a gigantic metal lantern, carved as if from one shiny green metal ingot. Energy leaked from it, spreading an emerald hue on him.
As if ordained by destiny, he entered into it and disappeared.
"Our course of action is clear," said the first Guardian of the universe.
"Who shall we choose?" asked another of the blue skinned, white haired diminutive humanoids.
"Guanthet!" said a third.
"So it is decided."
"Wait!" the surprised Guanthet exclaimed.
Without warning, light erupted from the twenty foot tall lantern, glowing brighter and brighter, until the statuesque symbol of the Green Lantern Corps exploded.
From the wreckage strode the human. His colors were still green and black, but no longer was the proud lantern symbol worn. His impassive gaze swept to the drained and obviously dead 'Guardians'. A glint of metallic jade caught his attention.
A single step crushed his discarded ring. Without a further word, his power flung him into the air, faster and faster. He was now the last master of the emerald energy.
And he had many things, many wrongs to fix. Now that he had the power.
Moments after he had left, a single blue skinned figure crawled from the pile of lifeless corpses that had given their lives to save him.
Guanthet narrowed his eyes in thought. He floated towards the shattered ring, scooping it up. With a mere moments concentration, he refashioned it into a new ring. Different and new. A moment later he disappeared, becoming a streak of blue light that traversed the distance between stars as easily as a normal person would walk down a sidewalk.
-
Switch now to a different locale and the young girl sitting on the back steps of a traditional Japanese dojo. Her short hair and sweat covered gi spoke volumes of her untraditional outlook on life, mixed equally with a proud tradition as evidenced by the traditional dojo.
A cute pout was the most prominent feature on her face. In the night sky above her, a falling star lit up the area for just a moment, veering toward her.
The bright light illuminated the area, showing a very small man with blue skin and wearing a red robe. "You will have to do."
Akane Tendo blinked in astonishment as she took the proffered ring. "Uh, okay. Do what?"
"What must be done. There are many things that must be done to protect our universe against Jordan." And with that, he disappeared in another flash of light.
"I have to be dreaming." Or I ate some of my own cooking, she thought with a frown. I was so sure it was going to be right this time!
"Akane! Are you all right?" a panicked teen boy shouted as he bounded through the open door, looking around frantically.
"Of course I am!" Akane snapped, her earlier irritation rising up. "You don't have to watch over me all the time!"
"What? I ain't doing nothing of the sort! I just thought somebody had kidnapped you again!" Ranma snapped.
"I'm not helpless! I can defend myself, you know, Ranma!"
"Ha, you could have fooled me! You're so slow and clumsy you're lucky you don't trip and fall into some kidnappers hands."
"Ranma! You take that back!" the girl shouted. She swung a punch at the boy, missing him entirely.
"Nyah!" Ranma crowed as he dodged and danced away.
"Hmphf." Akane declined to follow, letting him get away with his taunt. She opened her clutched fist, showing the strange metal ring. She shrugged and walked into the house for a bath. On the ground behind her, a strange rough stone that softly glowed green lay in the bushes. Slowly its glow dimmed, leaving it hidden.
-
Akane tossed the ring on her bed as she toweled her hair dry. That Ranma could be so irritating. But he was always watching out for her. A small smile crept up on her lips. He really did care, somewhere in his crassness. He just didn't know how to let it show.
She picked up the ring after putting on her pajamas, sitting on her western style bed. After looking at it from all sides, she shrugged and put it on her right hand's ring finger. Sudden bright light filled the room, as she felt her loose and comfortable nightwear change to a full body tight, form- fitting outfit.
The blazing green energy diminished and faded, leaving Akane dumbfounded. It was just some sort of ring, right?
"What's going on?" Akane said to herself as she pulled out her little vanity mirror off of her desk.
It was still herself, but she was now wearing a little domino mask and a body hugging uniform. Slowly, it dawned on her, that she knew that uniform. It was the uniform of that American hero, the Green Lantern.
So who was the little blue man? And why was he giving the ring away? Was she supposed to become a super-hero? And he picked her to defend the world against... what was it? A Jor-Dan? Another alien?
A sudden rapping on her window startled her out of her thoughts.
"Akane? You all right?" Ranma called from where he hung from the roof's edge. "There was this weird light again!" Stupid drapes, how was he supposed to tell if Akane was all right if she kept them closed?
How do I get rid of the outfit? Akane thought panickly. Her sudden surge of will turned off the outfit, leaving her back in her normal sleeping clothes. "That was easy!"
"Akane!" Maybe he should just open the window and go in?
"Ranma! What do you think you are doing?" Akane asked, her temper flaring as she flung open the drapes and window.
"Uh, I saw a weird light again." Uh, oh. Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!
"And just what were you watching my room for?" Akane inquired icily. That pervert!
"I was just on the roof, um, watching the stars. It's not like I'd want to peep on your dorky body anyways!" Ranma snapped back unthinkingly.
"Really?" Suddenly, books and other items started to fly out the window, narrowly missing the hanging martial artist as he dodged frantically.
"Nyah! Can't hit the broad side of a ba-arn-urgk!" The dumbbell that had been saved for last cut off Ranma's jibe. Ranma landed on his head with a neck-jarring thud. "Owie."
"Serves you right, Ranma!" Akane called from up above.
"You are so-o-o dorky, you know that?" Ranma yelled back up.
Akane's answer was to drop another box full of weights on him.
"Urgk!"
Thoughts of her ring were driven from her mind by the need for sleep and Ranma's intrusion.
-
Akane dashed home, eager to get her homework done and go over to her friend's house like she'd planned. Suddenly, she felt an itching on her finger, from the strange new ring. She stared at it blankly for a moment, before remembering what it really was and what this probably meant.
She ducked down an alleyway and with a mere thought, had switched to the Green Lantern's uniform.
"So, now what?" Akane asked rhetorically. No answer ensued from any omniscient advisor. Or even a cute magical animal that should have just appeared. She guessed that she'd been chosen to be a new Green Lantern, but beyond that, she was lost.
She scratched her head. Well, from the pictures she remembered, he could fly (she thought) and blast things. With a shrug, she tried to concentrate about flying up into the air.
"YEOW!" Akane screamed as she rocketed into the air, green energy flowing around her. She wobbled but then caught herself.
"Okay, I'm flying. I'm really flying," Akane said to herself, trying to calm herself down. She shifted the focus to the ring on her right hand and the itching sensation. Just like that, she veered towards the east, heading out over the city.
Mere moments later, she was flying over the docks of Tokyo Bay and zeroing in on an unassuming freighter. As she got closer, she realized that it had an odd bubble of black energy covering the back of it. Near the edge of it, on deck, she saw several crumpled humans. The crew?
Landing with a thump, she bent down to see how they were doing. With startling suddenness, the prone figure grabbed her, twisting and throwing her up against a wall. All of the crew leaped to their feet, callous grins broke out among them.
"So, Dr. Light you finally arrived!" the first one spoke as he stood up quickly, taking three steps and kicking at her. "Eh?"
Akane shook off her stupor and caught the kick with one hand. With her free hand, she flipped to her feet. "Do I look like Dr. Light? She wears a yellow and white costume! I'm wearing green and black!"
The group of thugs had noticed and stopped in confusion. "Who are you?"
The guy right next to him shrugged and yelled out, "Who cares? Take her out so we can be ready for Dr. Light!"
With that, the group of five men charged the young girl, swinging punches and blackjacks. The newest Green Lantern casually ducked and blocked all of the attackers. "I'm Green Lantern! And you guys are no threat!"
The ruffians were finding that out the hard way. All punches were blocked or just outright dodged. One, then another, then finally a series of five blows laid low the thugs.
Akane nodded in satisfaction. She might not be the best martial artist in Nerima anymore, but she was still good. She turned towards the inky darkness, her hand slowly reaching out to touch it. Nothing happened, except that her hand dipped in without resistance.
Midnight Psycho frowned from the freighter's bridge where he'd just noticed the intruder on his meticulously laid out plans. Who was this strange girl? She was wearing the uniform of the Green Lantern, but wasn't using her ring. If she had one. The lithe and blackly clad oriental frowned. He reached into his leather jacket and pulled out his darkness gun. The darkness generator would last for a while yet, even while being countered by any source of light. He rechecked the power level of the gun, squinting behind his special red-tinted goggles.
He looked up to see what the Green Lantern was doing. Fool, she was wandering around blindly. She wasn't even using the ring to generate light.
This is dumb, Akane thought to herself. It's too dark to see anything. "Now what?" she asked herself. She couldn't see anything to blast and flying would be just stupid. If only she had a light. She blinked at a flash of green light from her ring, a light that flickered out when she jumped.
Midnight Psycho frowned. What was she doing?
You just have to think about it! Akane thought excitedly. She raised her left hand suddenly, as spark of emerald energy jumping off of it as if in excitement. "Light!" she commanded unconsciously.
The last power ring of Oa answered, letting loose a bright light that illuminated the area around her for ten feet. "Yes!" Akane frowned in thought, the bubble of light shrinking around her momentarily.
Midnight Psycho frowned. Hmm. About the same that Dr. Light could generate.
It's based on thought? Akane thought to herself. No! It's based on concentration! Willpower! Light surged across the deck, showing that she was right!
On the bridge, a two foot cylinder of metal started to hum, indented red lights blinking, trying to counteract the light being generated within its area of affect. It soon started to whine, its exotic engines fighting against a relentless tide of emerald light.
The Japanese villain of darkness swore under his breath. What power! He must take that ring for himself! He shattered the bridge window with the gun in his hand, aiming the moment it was gone.
From behind him, the whine of tortured energies turned into a howl for just a second, before overloading. The explosion blew him clear out of the bridge, leaving him dazed on the deck, a mere twenty feet from the newest Green Lantern.
"Damn. How can this be?" he muttered dazedly.
"What? Wait? I recognize you, you're a foe of Dr. Light! Midnight Psycho!" Akane exclaimed.
With the grace of a cat, Midnight Psycho rolled to his feet. "Nice to know that I'm well recognized. And you are the Green Lantern? Aren't you a little young, girl?"
"Huh? So what?" Akane rebutted angrily. "And I yes, I am the Green Lantern now!"
"You don't sound very sure. So, you're a newbie. Well, I'm not going to let my plans be disrupted by a neophyte. And that ring will fit nicely on my finger after I kill you!" With that, he snapped a shot off, hoping to surprise her.
Akane ducked instinctively, hearing the sound of crashing metal behind her. A quick glance showed that the dark energy had blasted a three foot section of the deck to smithereens. "Oh, crud!" she cried out, ducking another blast. She pointed the ring at Midnight Psycho and thought of it blasting him. She was rewarded with a green beam of energy that nearly took off the villain's head.
Dr. Light flashed across the bay, worry etched on her face. How had Midnight Psycho learned about the shipment of equipment for S.T.A.R. labs? And more importantly, how had learned of the fifteen grams of anti-matter that it carried? She was going to have words with the person in charge of this fiasco!
Wait! What was that light?
Midnight Psycho flicked a switch on the high tech darkness gun he carried. "Dodge this, Green Lantern!" he shouted holding down the trigger of the gun, unleashing a fully automatic burst of energy, striking the entire area.
Akane nearly panicked, even as the ring materialized a glowing, transparent curved wall in front of her. It can make things?
"No! This can't be happening!"
Akane suddenly dashed toward him, spinning a vicious kick into his stomach. Midnight Psycho was lifted off the ground and rocketed across the deck, slamming painfully up against the bridge wall. He struggled to his feet, groaned once and collapsed.
"Yay! I got him!" Akane shouted as she danced around.
"Yes, you did! Now, you'd better be ready to answer some questions!" the white and yellow clothed Dr. Light said. Her cape fluttered in the wind from where she floated in the air above the water.
"Oh, wow! It's Dr. Light," Akane gushed.
"Uh, yes." Dr. Light was taken back by the awed reaction. "So you're one of the Green Lanterns Corps?"
"Corps? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about?" Akane replied. She squinted in concentration, lifting off the ground. She could get to like this.
"So you just found this ring lying around?" the older woman asked. That uniform looked authentic.
"No, this little blue guy gave it to me. He was wearing a red robe with the same symbol." Now that she thought about it, that was kind of odd. Who was that?
"Little blue guy? A Guardian, I think. Hmm." Dr. Light frowned. She really didn't know much more than that the Guardians created the GL Corps. And gave them the rings to use to defend the galaxy.
"Is that what he was? He didn't stay around very long."
"So what do you plan to do with the ring?" the older super-hero asked.
"Well... be a hero of course! It's a martial artist's duty to protect those weaker than you!"
"Really?" Dr. Light thought for a second. "You're new, of course. Let me give you a bit of advice. Don't tell anyone who you are. Or what you do. Even me. If you have family or loved ones, you need to protect them. That means hiding who you are. Even from them."
"But you don't wear a mask."
"I've sometimes wished I had thought about that first."
"Oh."
Dr. Light looked west, towards Tokyo. "You should leave. The coastal patrol will be here soon. Along with reporters and their cameras."
"Thanks, Dr. Light! I'll remember." With that, she took off, faster than a rocket. In moments, she'd disappeared across the horizon.
"Hmm. I think that life might just have become more interesting here in Tokyo." Dr. Light shrugged and turned back to take Midnight Psycho into custody, only to find him long gone. "Grr. He played possum again."
-
Akane drifted across Nerima, floating high in the sky. She had to think for a moment. What was she going to do? Dr. Light had mentioned that she needed to hide that she was the Green Lantern. But how? Nabiki was too nosey and Ranma would be sure to notice the ring too, if she kept it on for very long.
That was it! She zoomed across the sky, headed for the local mall.
-
Around the gigantic hulking figure, guards in high tech armor lay limp and broken. His stubby hands grabbed another guard before he could run, snapping his neck instantly. Insane and over-powerful super-humans were gleefully decimating the guards and freeing themselves.
"Green Lantern! I will kill Superman and the one called... Green Lantern!" shouted Mongul the conqueror.
A blast struck him from behind, coming from the air above.
"Don't move or I'll fire again, with lethal force!" the new guard said as he flew down to the ground on the large rocket pack he wore.
"Fool!" Mongul called out, snagging the hapless guard easily. "You will tell me where the one called Superman is! Now! Or I'll crush you!"
"I-I don't know. He's gone missing and hasn't been seen in a while." The jailer was now all too aware of his impending mortality. The crushing grip threatened to kill him almost instantly.
"What of the one known as Green Lantern?" Mongul asked, his large and brutish face only inches away from the hapless man.
"I think I heard something about a Green Lantern being sighted in Tokyo!" the uniformed man babbled.
"Huh. Our second target city. Very well." He pulled the rocket pack off the guard. "You will not need this anymore." With a flick of his wrists, he mashed the guard through a concrete wall, killing him instantly.
With a thundering roar, the rocket threw him into the air.
-
A green hand picked up the small cat in the tree and hoisted it to the ground. A little girl squealed in joy at the return of her pet. "You take care!" Akane called out as she flew off.
Moments later she landed in a small alley, slipping the ring off and slipping it into necklace. A second later, she was walking down the street, headed towards her home.
"There you are, Akane!" Ranma called out as he trotted along a fence top. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Eh? What's up, Ranma?" Akane asked.
"Not much. It just seems you disappear at times." Ranma scowled at her. At least Ryoga wasn't around and neither was Kuno. He'd been worried that she was starting to hang out with them, their protests not withstanding.
"I just felt like a walk. You don't have to hover over me!"
Ranma opened his mouth, but suddenly looked up, his sixth sense warning him of an impending attack. Ranma scooped up Akane and leaped away. A huge figure crashed into the ground, right where they had been.
"Green Lantern! Come fight me, so that I might grind you beneath my heel!" Mongul shouted, stepping out of the cratered concrete. His sensors had pinpointed this as the last emission of the exotic energy they used.
Ranma set his fiancée down a good distance away. "I don't know who you are, but nobody attacks Akane and gets away with it!" Ranma leaped the entire distance, a perfect leap kick that barely moved the superhuman jugernaught.
Behind both of them, Akane fumbled with locket, opening it and sliding the ring onto her finger.
"Boy, I don't care who you are, give me the Green Lantern!" Mongul shouted; throwing a massive punch that was easily ducked.
"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked, launching a hundred kicks into his stomach. The much larger humanoid barely flinched.
"He's not the Green Lantern, I am!" she boomed out, lashing out with a beam of emerald light.
Mongul was actually staggered by that, his brow creasing in surprise. "Who are you, girl?"
Akane floated up, a soft glow covering her body. "I already said that! I'm the new Green Lantern."
Nah, that couldn't be! But, maybe it was. He hoped he was wrong. "Hey, we aren't finished fighting, ugly!" Ranma called out, snapping a full strength crescent kick into the yellow alien's jaw.
The gigantic alien shook his head. "You are annoying me, gnat. Die!" His huge blow missed the agile martial artist, but struck the ground so hard that the concrete exploded, striking Ranma's back like Ryoga's breaking point. His limp body was flung into the air.
"Ranma!" Akane cried out, letting herself be distracted.
Mongul leaped the forty feet in one bound, tackling the much smaller figure and smashing through a store's wall. "Now you die, Green Lantern!" the yellow skinned alien shouted, smashing the green and black garbed figure deep into the ground.
"That is enough, Mongul! Cease and desist. This is your final warning!" a resonant voice called from the air.
Mongul looked over his shoulder, seeing a red caped figure eclipsing the sun, the martial artist being held in one easy grasp. "You are not Superman!"
"Of course not! I am the Martian Manhunter!" the emerald-skinned alien said concisely.
"I have already slain the Green Lantern. I will not be stopped by the likes of you. If you bar my path to the Kryptonian, I will kill you!"
The ground suddenly rumbled as a blunt green missile struck him from the earth and flinging the remorseless destroyer into the air. "I'm not done with you yet!" A small tear and much grime marred her clothing. She floated slowly towards her attacker.
"Hey, let me go!" Ranma said as he finally shook off the daze that he'd been in. With surprising strength, he eluded the Martian's grip, ripping his shirt in the process. He bounced twice and snapped a vicious spin kick at Mongul that stunned him for a second.
The Martian Manhunter blinked in surprise, but immediately zoomed in to hit his foe with a double fisted punch, aided by his flying speed.
Mongul rubbed his jaw. This was becoming burdensome. He had to remove one of the players from the field. His right hand adjusted the square blaster that was mounted on his chest. "I will deal with you in a moment, Martian. Die, Green Lantern!" With that he sent out a yellow beam of energy that struck a hastily raised green wall. "What? Impossible! Your powers have a yellow weakness!"
"Huh?" Akane replied, her brow furrowing in concentration.
"Indeed, how you can even affect Mongul is amazing. But that is not here nor now." Red eye beams of scorching energy blasted into the marauding alien, barely moving him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. My ring works just fine on yellow things!" With that, Akane blasted out with a beam of energy, following up the Martian Manhunter's own attack and knocking Mongul off guard again.
"Hey, ugly, how can you expect to deal with them, when you can't even hurt me?" Ranma catcalled, dancing around the much larger biped. "I don't even have super powers and you can't beat me!"
The much stronger and larger alien sneered and punched at the dodging target. And kept punching at him, following him relentlessly.
"The fool!" the Martian said loudly. "Mongul is too powerful to enter into a fight if you have no powers."
"Wait! He knows what he's doing!" the much smaller girl said, putting a hand on his shoulders to restrain.
"You must be joking!"
"No! Watch!"
"Why won't you just die, human?" Mongul shouted.
"You asked for it! Hiryu Shotan HA!" the pig-tailed martial artist called out, punching upwards into the air. A cyclone of monstrous proportions suddenly swirled into existence, sucking Mongul up into the air.
Mongul felt as if he'd been blasted with some stupendous power. For long moments, he was in the air, until finally the tornado of force finally spent itself, letting him fall to the hard ground below. "Ung. That is... impossible." Mongul slowly pulled himself out of the crater, just in time to note the sun being occluded by a very large object.
A gigantic hammer smashed the alien back down, leaving him very unconscious. "Yay! Got him!" Akane crowed. She floated down to land next to Ranma.
"So what's with the outfit?" Ranma asked, gesturing at her.
"Er, what do you mean?"
"Come on, Akane. Like that mask really hides much of your face."
"Perhaps it would be better to continue this someplace more private?" the Martian Manhunter interrupted suddenly.
"Huh?" The popping of flash bulbs from cameras caught all of their attention. "Oh! Uh, bye!" Akane rocketed into the air and out of sight.
"It would be best if I departed too." And with that, the Martian Manhunter disappeared from view, literally.
"Oh, that's just great!" Ranma complained. A burst of water exploded from the ravaged concrete that lay underneath the fallen alien suddenly drenched the now female martial artist. "Gah!" Ranma cried out, hoping to a local roof and running off, almost faster than the eye could follow. She did not want her curse on the front of the paper.
Flashing lights on top of military land cruisers showed in the distance as the JSDF finally showed up to take charge of the incarceration of the dangerous villain.
Noting this, Martian Manhunter decided to follow the martial artists. Flying silently above the transmogrified martial artist, the green alien that had become one of Earth's greatest defenders followed silently. He had become quite interested in the two, as they seemed to know each other.
His hunch paid off as the martial artist hopped over a fence into a rustic homestead, where a girl that closely matched the new Green Lantern was waiting. He noted the furtive look of the martial artist as she tried to look over the area for someone spying on them.
"So what's going on, Akane?" Ranma asked; an overly cute pout on her lips.
"Do you remember that light that one night? A blue alien gave me the ring and told me that I had to use it, to protect the world."
Ranma opened her mouth, but was suddenly drenched with hot water from a glowing green cup. "That's kind of handy. So you're a super-heroine now?" He puffed out his chest in sudden machismo. "I don't need no stupid ring to fight bad guys."
"Well excuse me for not being the best martial artist around. This is my chance to do some good. To not be... useless." Akane gulped suddenly. "This is important to me, okay? Don't... don't mess it up, please."
"Uh, okay. I guess." Ranma suddenly changed the direction of the conversation. "So, how do you do the school thing and being a super hero?"
"I may have to miss some school. I hope it isn't too bad. I'm just barely getting caught up after Jusendo!"
With that, their invisible and mysterious watcher floated away. There was a high school nearby. The heroically muscled alien landed nearby and shifted his form as easily as most people combed their hair. In moments, Yuchiro Takata, reputable businesswoman, walked into the halls of Furinkan High School.
"Excuse me, could you direct me to the Principal's office? I wish to submit a proposal to him," the striking (but very human looking) woman asked.
"Uh, are you sure?" the janitor asked.
"Yes."
"Just down this hall, you can't miss it. Look for the palm trees."
She followed the directions, being shocked at the realistic panorama of the Hawaiian beach. "Uh, excuse me. Are you the... Principal?" she inquired of the brightly colored man lying on a lounge chair. He seemed to have a palm tree growing out of the top of his head.
"Yo got it! How can I help a pretty wahine like you?" Principal Kuno flashed his best smile and watched for some sort of reaction from the rather severe woman.
"I feel drawn to do a bit of good will work. I am a busy woman, but I would like to donate ten million yen to this school and help mold the future of our wondrous heritage. I would like to help by being a part time substitute teacher, filling in when I can."
"Ten million yen? Heya, I recognize you. Furinkan would be honored to have you join our faculty."
Yuchiro Takata, aka Martian Manhunter, had an odd sinking feeling in her stomach. How come this suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea?
-
Ranma and Akane glared at each other across the open aisle in the classroom. Neither would remember who had started the latest fight, or over what, but both were more than willing to show their displeasure.
Yuchiro shook her head in amazement. They both had good hearts, it was terribly obvious. And to a telepath of her caliber, their suppressed love was even shown. So why did they act so horribly to each other? "All right, class. I want you to finish reading chapter two in preparation for the quiz on Monday."
Muffled groans answered her, even as all of the students slammed their books into their bags and got to their feet.
"Ranma, may I speak to you. Privately?" she asked pointedly.
The boy in question nearly jumped out of his seat, quickly glancing over to the teacher. "Uh, sure."
Akane almost stayed, but at the last moment waved to Ranma. "I'm going to head home!"
The last student closed the door behind them, leaving the two alone.
"Ranma, I've heard about your curse and I was wondering if you had actually talked to anyone about it?" The disguised Martian looked deeply into the mind of Ranma Saotome.
Ranma blink-blinked in surprise. "Um, no. No reason to, really." This new teacher really spooked him out.
"You feel nothing when you are forced to change genders?"
"Not... really. It's not something I like to talk about, Ms. Takata."
Yuchiro sighed even as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "That's what I was trying to talk about. Something like that could be weighing on your mind. I'm no expert, of course, but I really think you need to come to terms with this change to you." A lie, of course. She was an expert of changes to the body and how it affected the mind.
"I'll, uh, think about it." Ranma turned quickly.
"I will be here if you need someone to talk to. Thank you for your time. You may leave now."
Ranma nodded and took off. He ran down the stairs and out side. A single bound took him over the walls, where he slowed down. A look of concentration took over. He hated to admit it, but maybe he did need to think things through a bit. And maybe talk to someone too.
But who?
-
Akane opened the house door and inhaled, ready to call out her customary greeting, when she heard a cry.
"Please, I don't know what you want!" a girl sobbed.
"Where... Green... Lantern!" growled a very coarse, foreign voice.
"Green Lantern? I don't know-arghk!" A sickening crack sound reverberated thru the house.
"Where Green Lantern!" he yelled out again. His frustration was palpable.
"Leave her alone!" Akane yelled out, even as she slipped on the ring. She slid into the living room, clothed again in the familiar, masked uniform of the Green Lantern.
A maroon, hulking figure released the bleeding and bruised body from his grasp, her arm's bones twisted cruelly and showing thru tears in the skin. "Finally, someone who speaks a real language! You, Green Lantern, I'm here for that ring. Give it to me and I won't kill you!" His hand glowed with strange energies. His interrogation hadn't been working too well with the young housewife, anyways. He'd hoped for more time alone to get the information he needed.
"Kasumi! You hurt... You bastard!" Her will formed a mighty, serpentine dragon-beam that slammed the man out through the wall. "You'll pay for that!" Without a thought, she leapt out after him.
"You're not bad, girl." He stripped the remains of the normal coveralls that he'd been wearing. "Doesn't matter, 'cause I'm invulnerable. You can call me Major Force. Or your death!" Both hands blossomed with scarlet fire that slammed into a green wall that shuddered under the attack.
Sweat beading on her brow, a metallic katana appeared in her hand even as the wall became more solid. A burst of will threw her at the dojo's wall, allowing herself to slip behind him and slash with her new weapon, slicing into his back. It was harder to keep the weapon formed than normal.
"You cut me! You bitch!" Major Force shouted, crushing the wall behind her with his immense blow.
"How could you harm an innocent like that?" Her ring blasted out again, smashing into the metallic looking body of her foe.
"It was easy. Her goody-goody attitude sickened me!" Purplish energy slammed into a European type shield that Akane conjured up.
The shield held for just a moment and then shattered, flinging her across the yard and up against the outer wall. "What's going on?" she said to herself, shaking her head.
"Ha! I knew you couldn't stand up to my power! I'm going to kill you now, girl!" He tromped over and attempted to smash into her with both fists.
She ducked to the side and attempted to blast him with the ring while punching, trying to increase the blows' power. The ring gave off a feeble glow and then went out! "No!"
Major Force said something in English too fast for her to follow. With a laugh, he blasted her with a low power punch that flung her away, bleeding and bruised.
"Akane! You creep!" a new voice cried out from the hole in the house.
"Back off or Die!" Major Force warned in very poor Japanese. He lashed out with another beam of energy that blew an opening right thru the house.
"Way too slow, jerk!" Ranma crowed, merely flowing around the attack. A lifetime's training, a will indominatible formed within his cupped hands. "Mouko Takabishi!" he shouted out, throwing one of the largest ki blasts of his life. These super-villains were just too tough to take out with mere punches!
The super villain braced himself, shrugging off the attack. If he'd been less invulnerable, he might have felt that. "Hah! Is that the best you can do?" he cried out in English.
Akane coughed and rolled over. How could the ring have failed her? She turned over to see Ranma putting up a valiant fight, but even in her hurt state, she could see that he wasn't hurting Major Force in the slightest.
"Ranma!"
"Akane! What happened?" Ranma called out, ducking another blast that left a ten foot crater behind him.
"I don't know, the ring just died and won't work!" Akane called back, almost in tears. She was going to be a hero! She wasn't going to be useless anymore.
"Crap. I found a glowing green rock behind the dojo after you found the ring! Maybe it can fix it! It's under the center of the dojo!" Ranma yelled back, barely dodging another blast, his pigtail being chopped three inches shorter, releasing his hair.
With a pained heave, Akane got back to her feet and stumbled towards the dojo's open door.
A near hit from Major Force sent her stumbling. He yelled out something unintelligible in English again, pointing his hand at her threateningly.
Akane looked around frantically. Where was the rock? Wait, he said under the dojo. "Hiya!" she cried out, smashing a large hole into the floor. She saw a glow of green as she fumbled. Her hands grasped onto the roughness of the rock, only to feel it flow and change.
"What the hell?" Major Force yelled out, gaping in astonishment at the oddly glowing Japanese stone lantern that she held.
With a brilliant flash of emerald brilliance, her wounds and scrapes disappeared. She might not have towered over him, but all of a sudden she seethed with energy and power, causing Major Force to take an involuntary step backwards.
Ranma dove to the side, even as the largest oriental dragon he'd ever seen appeared. It roared even as its claws smashed Major Force into a huge crater. Even as it pulled its claw back, a fiery gout of flame engulfed the hapless villain.
Ranma whistled from the side. The pure power of that ring was amazing. Ranma winced as Akane blasted the man again and again, a rictus of rage stamped on her features. Ouch. He'd been on the receiving end of that rage before.
"Stop!" a diamond hard voice commanded. "He's beaten." Floating majestically, the Martian Manhunter's presence was a tangible thing, demanding obedience.
Akane floated there for a second, her mouth open. She shook her head, releasing her will. "Yeah. I guess he is." She took a deep breath suddenly. "It's just that he hurt... Kasumi!" she wailed, zooming into the house.
Ranma and the Martian Manhunter followed just a moment later. The Green Lantern knelt beside her older sister. She looked up as they entered. "I... I don't know what to do! She's been hurt so badly! Can't lose her too. Can't lose..."
She was interrupted by the green skinned alien. "Will the ring to heal her." The Martian's ruby eyes stared at her intently.
"But..."
"Will it to heal her." He overrode her objections with his steadfast gaze.
A look of intense determination and concentration appeared on her, sweat on her brow from her intense efforts. A soft green glow suffused Kasumi's skin. The unconscious young woman grimaced at the intense pain of her bones resetting, flesh knitting at amazing speeds.
In just a few moments Kasumi's skin was unblemished with any wound, the only sign that she'd been hurt were the blood stains on her dress. With a sob, Akane grabbed her sister in a desperate hug, crying like a small child.
A few minutes later, which Ranma and the Martian Manhunter stood silent vigil; Akane finally calmed down and looked up. "...thank you..." they managed to hear, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible. Her eyes strayed down to the ring. "I can't keep this. I'll just hurt my family more." She took off the ring and tossed it violently outside. After that, she collapsed onto her oldest sister again.
"I... understand, I think. It is your choice, but you should be aware that others may come looking for you now." He nodded to her and then floated outside to pick up Major Force. With sure movements, he flew into the air.
Ranma reached out carefully, putting his hand on Akane's shoulder. The young girl's snapped to meet his own, wild and unsure. With the precision of a wrestling takedown, she latched onto her fiancé like he was the most important thing in the world, sobbing wildly.
He couldn't do anything but rock her slightly, his arms lapped loosely back around her.
"What happened here?" an outraged female voice called out. A moment later, Nabiki stormed in to see the three figures. Ranma and Akane being so intimate and caring for one another would normally have been her only focus, but the still lying figure, stained in blood, captured her view fully. "Kasumi?" The middle Tendo sister knelt down, shaking her older sister's shoulder.
"Umm. Tired. Want to go back to sleep," Kasumi muttered unhappily.
"Kasumi! Wake up! What's going on?" Nabiki shouted out.
"What? Oh, Nabiki! I had the most horrid dream. I dreamed a mean man made out of purple metal was hurting me!" Kasumi said as she shook herself awake.
"You aren't being coherent, sis. What purple man?" Nabiki now had a perplexed look on her face.
"He was looking for the Green Lantern," Akane said softly, not releasing her fiancé. "There's no Green Lantern here anymore."
"Hey, you should go lie down now, Akane." Ranma's face was etched with worry.
"..." Akane thought about it a second. "Maybe." She smiled wanly, nodding an affirmative finally. She released her fiancé and headed up the stairs.
"All right, Ranma! You'd better start talking. And fast!" Nabiki demanded loudly from downstairs.
"Um, well, it's kind of like this..." Ranma started even as his voice drifted out of her hearing range.
Walking woodenly, Akane opened her door and settled down on her bed. It was starting to get dark, several hours later when she looked away from the ceiling. She'd heard in the distance the hammering of repair work. That had been probably been Ranma and the fathers fixing what they could of the mess.
Her room was suddenly lit up an ethereal emerald hue. "Green Lantern." The strangely garbed blond Caucasian was looking right at her.
"I'm not Green Lantern." Her breath caught in her throat. Was it another attacker? She was reminded of the Martian Manhunter's words about other people hunting her.
"Actually, you're the only one that can be the Green Lantern now. The ring will only respond to you, as I discovered." The garishly cloaked and garbed man turned over his fist, opening it to reveal the ring. "That boy was very persistent in trying to keep it away from me. I am the Sentinel."
"Ranma? You didn't hurt him, did you?" Akane cried out suddenly.
"No! Well, not much," the old man chuckled. "He's a real scrapper, isn't he? Actually gave me a run for my money."
"So why did you come here?" Akane asked suspiciously. She clenched her fists nervously, ready for a fight.
"We need the Green Lantern to stop Jordan."
"The Jordan?" Akane queried.
"The ...? No, Hal Jordan, the previous Green Lantern has gone insane and power mad. He's on a quest to remake reality, getting rid of all those mistakes that he feels shouldn't have happened. He doesn't care who gets in his way."
"Hal... Jordan? You mean, the old Green Lantern is the... badguy?"
"Yes, and you are the only Green Lantern now. I am too old to be the Green Lantern again. Now. And I've already failed to stop him. I was almost aged to death. You must take up the ring. Untold billions of people will die if he succeeds." The Sentinel's expression was grim.
"Billions?" Akane could scarcely believe what she was hearing. "My family?"
"The entire universe."
"I... I'll do it. For my family!" Akane proclaimed determinedly, a new fire lit within her. She took the ring and put it on. Thinking back for a moment, she grabbed the lantern that Ranma must have brought up here. Energy crackled off of it, seemingly refilling the ring.
"Hmm. You might want to take the lantern with you. Who knows when you might make it back to recharge?"
"Right! So we are off?" Akane asked, garbed again in the Green Lantern's uniform.
The other ring wielder nodded, floating up through the ceiling.
"I can go thru things? Hey, wait up!" she called out, willing her ring to follow.
-
"Sorry, old friend, but you won't be stopping anything," Hal Jordan, now Parallax, said to the stunned heroes that were assembled around him. The unconscious Superman's head and torso was only being held up by his cape, firmly in his green clad grasp.
"It's really him, Hal Jordan!" Guy Gardner stammered out in surprise. He shifted his techno-organic arms into cannon looking weapons.
"He was behind it all?"
"I've taken the name Parallax now. I've traveled to the beginning of time and back, learning and gaining the power that I need to fix everything. I won't let you stop me!"
"You creep! You erased Tokyo!" the young female Green Lantern screamed out, sending a solid beam of green energy at him. "You killed my family!" You killed Ranma! she screamed internally.
Parallax staggered under the attack for a moment, before shrugging it off like a shower of rain. "Not bad, girl. But that won't stop me!" His own attack was far more potent, sending the young woman bowling, knocking over the other heroes.
Akane wiped the blood from her lip. She couldn't let him destroy the universe! She just couldn't! Taking a hold of her invisible lantern, she let it become seen, its power directly funneling into the ring. "Parallax! I won't let you win!" she screamed out, an incredible surge of energy forming in front of her.
"What?" Parallax said, turning to face her. He ignored the other heroes preset, seeing a serious attack forming. Whole worlds could be destroyed with that sort of energy! He blasted out with his own green energy, meeting the wave of energy she sent at him head on.
Akane, the last Green Lantern, gritted her teeth, pulling even more on her immense willpower. But eventually, even that met its match with the greatest wielder of the Emerald Energy.
"You're too dangerous to leave where you can come back and challenge me again. I'll make sure that you'll never come back!" Parallax snarled. She had just too much power to outright destroy. But she wasn't prepared to be ejected into the farthest regions of existence, even further than he had traveled.
"No!" she screamed just a consciousness fled her battered body.
A seeming eternity later, she groaned and woke herself up. Whiteness met her masked gaze, wherever she looked. She focused on her ring, trying to detect anything.
She floated, curled up in a ball. 'Kasumi. Nabiki. Daddy. Ranma,' she bewailed to herself.
-
"I wasn't able to find Green Lantern. It's like she doesn't even exist anymore!" Waverider announced to the assembled heroes as he reappeared in a burst of rainbow energy.
"Poor kid. That's not a pleasant way to go."
Batgirl nodded. "She said that she'd lost her family and fiancé to the entropy wave."
Superman shook his head. "We have to stop him. Too many people have been hurt."
-
Akane frowned. She was bored. And hungry.
And getting angry! It was obvious that Waverider wasn't going to be able to find her now, like they'd planned. So it was up to her. And the ring, of course! Maybe they've already won and all she had to do was get home somehow.
Home to her family. And that idiot... Ranma. She stifled a sob. How could she even think of him like that? After he died, trying to save Nabiki and Father? And she hadn't been able to do anything to stop it!
She focused her will on the ring. Find Ranma, she commanded it. The ring flared bright against overwhelming whiteness. Suddenly, she felt a small tug off into the vast unknown. "Yes!" she cried out. She knew that he couldn't be killed!
She flew off, pushing herself to travel in the strange, unknown ether. After hours of traveling, she came across a battered and bruised form floating in the void.
"Ranma!" she cried. Her green aura encompassed him.
Ranma reflexively inhaled as air became available. It had been such a long time. With air, came coughing. Who was that, trying to talk to him?"
Akane threw off her mask, letting it dissolve into the void. "Oh, Gods, I thought he'd killed you!"
"Huh? Akane?" She was alive? But he'd thought that... His thinking was interrupted by her throwing herself into a tight hug. Ranma smiled, his heart relaxing. He must have been mistaken. He started to blink, his eyes starting to come into focus.
"Yes, you silly. Now we have to get out of here. Wherever here is, anyways." Great. How?
Ranma glanced around, seeing absolutely nothing for as far as he could see. "Where are we? All I remember is getting blasted and thinking I was going to die!"
"I've got it!" Akane crowed suddenly. 'Ring, take me to Japan by the fastest means possible!' Her willpower surged, green energy flaring in response. Someplace Ranma and I can be happy, she hoped.
"Huh? Where did you get...?" Ranma started to ask, when the void around them turned into a rainbow of coruscating colors, seemingly traveling around them like they were in an immense tunnel. With a burst of light, they appeared above a forest.
"Where are we?" Akane asked, spinning around in the air, trying to see a familiar sight. Ranma tumbled to the ground lightly, five feet below.
"Say, what are you doing in that Green Lantern getup?" Ranma asked, turning his head to look at her closely.
"Dummy! I am Green Lantern, now!"