And she didn't return for a good week. When she did return, it was to wreak havoc - something she'd already been forced to do on some random planet that she was guided to, just to drive up her taste for blood. By the time she realized that she was no longer alone in her head, as it were, it was far too late. Volthoon had denied her the time to reason over her emotions, and had denied her cigarettes, tearing down the wards Strangefate had placed on her mind to keep her savage temper in check. When she returned to earth, it was in a golden mockery of Parallax's armor, with a renewed mission to destroy the Corps. Volthoon hungered for revenge. Qward, too, hungered for revenge, their first invasion of the planet repelled by the Corps and the Justice League. Under Volthoon's guidance, Jade lashed out against the population of Chicago - just to draw out the good guys. Volthoon was gently pressing for Gotham, figuring he could fully destroy any remaining sense of reformation Jade had made if she could be made to turn on the city in which one of her only friends resided. Likely killing that friend. But deep down there were still a few points that Jade instinctively wasn't willing to yield on. So Volthoon settled for Chicago. And grew stronger with every life that was snuffed out by his little golden puppet.
Dave was the first to arrive in Chicago, along with his mentor and trainer - John Stewart. He'd been easing his way into assisting in the protection of Earth and nearby planets, helping bolster his confidence, and establishing himself as a Green Lantern. He and Stewart easily agreed on splitting up. Dave had a bit of an unfair advantage, being able to feel out Jade with his ring, and steered Stewart elsewhere. He wanted to at least trying to reason with her. She deserved that much. After all, he'd found Jade's experiences, stored safely within the ring. She had been Parallax, following after Hal Jordan. It was a rather dizzying whirl of temporal alterations, but he got the gist of it. Jade had basically sacrificed everything she had been for a friend, and the universe seemed keen on stepping on her again. Dave had a nasty feeling, given the golden flair her armor bore, that this yellow ring was behind the sudden change. Aha. The massive golden fist smashing various buildings flat did seem like a good indicator she was here. Any doubts that he was too green to take on Parallax had been firmly pressed from his mind. He couldn't allow doubt of any form to take shape in his thoughts, or he was as good as dead already. Finding Jade proved a surprising sight. She looked impressive, despite being in the middle of a 'kill people' spree. "Jade!" He just wanted her to stop and listen. It was the only chance he had of reasoning with her.
In the manner customary to egotistical mad villains like Volthoon, she did stop. But only after utterly leveling the building that she was hovering over, and sending a golden backhand towards the national guard that was foolish enough to send in a two tanks and an bunch of soldiers, rending the tanks useless. They'd have done better sending a flock of militant sheep with the tanks. At least amusement at the absurdity of the situation would have distracted Volthoon enough for someone to do... something that would have proven useless. She turned, crossing her arms over her chest, the golden cape trailing behind her, its edges dancing in threads of flame. "It would appear the time has come to conclude your training. And your career as a Green Lantern!" The arrogance sounded like Jade, yes, but the words were just all wrong.
"Right, and I haven't even gotten benefit information yet." His ring flared to life, and the construct sprouting from the ground, whipping out at the monk-controlled Jade, its tentacle-like branches aiming to capture the appendages of his opponent. "Why, Jade? I know you. I've seen inside your head." He tapped his ring to accentuate his remark. "You're tired of the constant fighting and killing. Why this again?" He could hear the odd tone, and the words Jade would never use. This wasn't adding up. Something was wrong, and somehow he got the feeling Jade wasn't 'in' to hear his questions.
She thrust her arms out to the side in grand gesture, a large sphere of golden energy enveloping the area around them both, decimating anything that happened to be in its way of forming. And protecting her from the snaking tendrils. As Volthoon was growing stronger from the destruction, he was pouring that strength into the ring, slowly but surely bringing himself and his power through the dimensions. Fiery trails of lightening erupted from the inner walls of the sphere, lashing out towards Dave. "Why this again? Because this time I will destroy the Green Lanterns once and for all. Because this time, I will seize Earth! Qward shall triumph at last!"
Dave winced as the assault scored a few hits on him. This wasn't good; Volthoon was like a tsunami of power, and getting stronger every minute. Calling on his power to escape the sphere, a glob of a gelatinous green substance appeared, plummeting towards who he was rather sure was not Jade. Not at the moment, anyhow. "Qward? I've heard about you people. Hold grudges a bit long, do we?" He didn't want to hurt Jade, but he wanted to know whom he was dealing with and what this person had planned. "So which megalomaniac is it this week? And please tell me you've got something planned better than a thrash and smash campaign. I saw too many of those in New York. They're rather old." He was normally somewhat sarcastic, but he was trying to be even more so to make this person mad, and possibly get careless.
A wave of her hand projected a larger golden hand to deflect the glob, dismissing the sphere, and also smugly dismissing the attempt at provocation as just as irrelevant. "My plans are of no concern to you. You will not live to see them carried through!" With an overdramatic gesture, a torrent of heat was released, forced through the cold air to create a violent amount of convection, erupting into a destructive, golden-flaming tornado, which was rapidly growing larger and moving after the Lantern. And wracking up property damage in the process.
The emerald flare was still visible, despite the yellow glow of the cyclone. Dave had responded in kind, loosing his own twister to combat the yellow. But Dave himself burst through the wrestling air currents, and came to a halt near Jade. His mouth curled slowly. "Watch me. If you think I'm going to roll over and die just because you dressed Jade up in the Parallax armor, I'd recommend thinking again."
"-Idiot!-" It was an honest Jade sentiment, so powerfully felt by the woman that her growl escaped the control Volthoon had over her, allowing her to express it. This, of course, did nothing to halt the repercussions of Dave getting too close. Those being another burst of heat, creating a torrent of violent air current directly around him. Lightning formed in the vortex, as well as needle like shards of golden hail.
His mistake was realized too late, and Chicago's first defender was felled, caught in the blinding and lashing torrent of golden energy, dropping to the ground. His force field flickered out as he rolled to a stop on the pavement below. He felt dazed, only barely aware of Jade above him. He reasoned the Justice League would be here soon though, along with the other Lanterns. Surely they would be able to stop her. No - stop whatever it was controlling her. A slight wince crossed his face, rather expected for Jade's influence to snuff him out. "Sorry Jade," he mouth, his voice hardly a whisper. "Didn't learn quite enough."
Gleefully aware of his first stroke of vengeance, Volthoon forced jade to the ground, a simple, yet brutal axe appearing in her hands. The axe swing was brought to a halt within a foot of connecting. Jade's lips were parted in a very Jade like snarl. "Get up, Dave! Now!" she growled, struggling against the axe that was drawing back for another swing. Jade, of course, lost. Volthoon's strength was still increasing from the tornado he had earlier turned loose on the city. "Don't get up on my account..." The axe was brought down once again, this time unstopped.
Another green beam of energy latched onto the ax, halting its downward progress. Rayner and the others had arrived. Rayner, having a ring that could function against yellow, took the lead, while Stewart held back to see if Dave was all right. A bit dazed, but recovering, he waved Stewart off, who left to aid Kyle. Dave watched the other engage Jade, using strategies a bit more sound than his. But he needed to get Frankie out of this. But he couldn't do this like he was. Frankie had told him that his ring had powers none of the other rings did, but he needed to recharge the battery, buried deep inside his ring to do so. Kyle told him he'd tried with the batteries on Earth, but none had worked.
The only battery bigger...was the Central Power Battery on Oa. But going to Oa would be a round trip of a few days at least. But there was no other way to save Frankie from this. She didn't deserve to get killed for something she hadn't done. Especially not after all she'd given up. "I'm sorry." His only words communicated to the others were almost lost in the forming sonic boom, as he headed skyward, shifting into his top speed as he hit space, vanishing into a wormhole.
Kyle, however, it was hard for Jade to find remorse in turning to attack him and the others, and so it was very easy for Volthoon to throw her into it. But for the moment, Volthoon knew they were both too weak to take on the full strength of the Corps. Selectivity would be needed... And he was close enough that it wouldn't take much more for him to break through with an army of Weaponers to back him up. Then the fun would begin. The struggle went on for a few moments until a clearing was found, and Volthoon yanked Jade through a wormhole of his own - enjoying the destructive repercussions doing so in the full force of the earth's gravity left in its wake.
A little more than a Terran day later, Dave arrived at the center of the known universe - Oa. The Power Battery was impossible to miss, and he bee lined straight for it. Ganthet was present, along with the recently resurrected and childlike Guardians. He'd opened his mouth to ask a question, but Dave had blown past him, not wasting any time. But charging the battery within the ring proved a doozy. The others had explained recharging rings, which was simple, but as his didn't need recharging... Dave elected to take the straightforward approach, and focus, and if he willed it enough, it ought to happen. Falling back on a cliché, and little-used oath anymore, he stretched out his ring towards the massive column of endless green energy. "In brightest day, in blackest night..." The oath itself serving as a focus point - channeling his desperation into determination. A strand of energy connected the Battery to its smaller counterpart within the ring, filling its partly emptied cells to their capacities. But his thoughts had turned to Jade, and her change. She was possessed by one of the Guardians of Qward. He would be stopped. "...Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power - Green Lantern's light!" The ring felt warm, abuzz with energies that it hadn't wielded in awhile. Dave noted that he had at least a day's journey back to Earth. He'd figure some way to separate the Qwardian from Jade, and then he planned on using Jade's secrets about his ring to destroy him. Letting his new power flow through himself a moment, he took a few minutes to use Jade's healing lessons to patch himself up from the beating he'd gotten, and flushing some of the sleep toxins his fatigue had produced. But there was no time to rest properly, and he was back to Earth at top speed.
By the time Dave got back to earth, he wouldn't need to formulate a plan to separate Jade and Volthoon. Volthoon had struck again, in a nuclear testing ground in the desert, employing the energy of the explosion to open the gateway bringing himself and his army fully through. His control over Jade was even stronger in person. He met little resistance. Her heart had given over to the defeat. A pawn yet again. Always a pawn. A pawn for destructive evil. So she fought by his side, finding herself with no thoughts but revenge on the Corps and the glory of Qward that he planted there. Their weapons were specifically designed for the challenge they had known they would face, and it was obvious they'd spent years developing them with this goal in mind. A battle raged on earth between the invading Qwardian army, and a combined effort of the Lantern Corps, Justice League, and a few other groups of random Earth heroes. It was chaos. And Volthoon fed off the chaos.
Descending through the atmosphere like an emerald comet, he sought out Volthoon. It would be the quickest way to end the conflicts. Lashing out with brute force, a simple green ray barreled ahead of him, aiming straight for the leader of the Qwardian advance. Dave admittedly wanted to smack the man who'd beaten him down at least once before using his ace in the hole, but he also wanted to demoralize the Qwardian force by making their leader look weak as well. Another of Stewart's battle-isms. Dave had paid attention to both his teachers - yellow and green.
Volthoon was sent sprawling, blindsided. Jade moved to defend him, but was commanded off as Volthoon rose, his attentions now focused on Dave. And went without a second thought to throw herself against the Corps. Volthoon had developed in that instant a grudge specifically against Dave. The man who had escaped death by his hand before. Volthoon was dressed as only mad monks would dress - a gaudy, glittering, jewel-studded mockery of a monk's plain robe. In the flesh as he was, he could draw fully on his sorceries, and wasn't limited to just the golden power of his mock-ring. He lashed out on the approaching lantern with golden lightening, arcing from his fingertips, that was more potent than anything he had thrown while possessing Jade's body.
Dave was rather livid himself, and his fury at the person who'd been using Jade, killing people senselessly - it gave him a disturbing power, a cold fury that kept his focus and willpower like he'd never had them. A solid green bubble formed around him, roughly 50 feet wide, leaving the lighting to splatter harmlessly against it. When the bubble vanished, there were a dozen Lanterns there, all wreathed in green fire, all replicas of Dave. He needed to get close to Volthoon, and he'd have to distract him to do it. All twelve converged on the monk, each taking different vectors of approach. All he needed was just a touch...
Volthoon simply lashed out against them all in a truly Qwardian manner, tearing up a wall of earth which ripped across the distance like a tidal wave, crushing and entangling in its momentum anything in its path. Even his own Weaponers. The Weaponers - at least those that survived - praised their ruthless leader. Those that didn't simply died in the glory of service. Sick and twisted people, the Qwardians were. And it was behind the Qwardian Monk that the true Green Lantern appeared from empty air, utilizing the trick that Jade had on him in their spar just a week ago. He caught the monk in a forceful hold, hissing in his ear with a gleeful spite. "Next stop: the future." Dave's ring shone with great brilliance, its newly restored power taking both its wearer and his captive through the corridors of time - three thousand years into the future. Jade had told him that there were those who were just waiting for his ring to appear, so he was hoping their fury would extend to someone along with him, while he disappeared back through time.
A single Enforcer was indeed lying in wait when the time portal spewed forth Dave and Volthoon. A mechanical voice boomed across the vacuum in the place where Earth had perhaps once stood. Despite the tinny mechanical tone - there was a definite note of true smugness in the voice. "This is a violation of temporal code 19786B. Punishable by immediate removal from the timeline." That was the only warning given before a bolt of energy, temporal in nature, ripped across the distance with a hiss from the weapon held in the hands of the armored being.
Dave quickly used Volthoon as a 'kickoff point', firing an emerald blast to push away from Volthoon, neatly dodging the temporal energy. His ring flared with its emerald brilliance again, slipping from the bounds of the third dimension to travel back in time to the present. Looming near, he knew all too well that Frankie would get blamed again. He found himself wishing he could do better. Perhaps he should have concentrated more fully, for while he did reappear in the present, either his distraction or his proximity to the time-disrupting weapon had caused him to emerge in empty vacuum, with only the soft twinkle of stars to break the void. This wasn't good. He could vaguely make out where Earth was, but getting there before he completely collapsed due to exhaustion was another matter. "Best not to waste time then," he noted to himself, streaking off at his best speed.
When Volthoon had been eradicated from time, something shifted, ever so slightly. It didn't take long for the Weaponers to be subdued, most attempting to flee back through the portal they had traveled there through before it collapsed. Jade's ring evaporated, probably at the worst possible moment, and she was sent flying by an attack from Kyle as her powers dissipated, the armor disappearing of her form, being returned to her casual jacket and jeans. It was pride, not any sort of malicious intent, that forced her to drag herself back to her feet, finding herself within reach of a discarded Weaponer's weapon. She would rather die here than admit that she'd been used as a pawn. She'd rather face up to the consequences of her actions than admit that she was weak. Still, it was inevitable that she was over powered, and drug away in glowing green chains.