Chapter 17: Mutiny
"Okay. Now where were we?" she asked.
"You were telling me what happened" John recalled.
"Oh yeah. Well, Grodd, with the help of Jervis…"
"Who?" John interrupted.
"Jervis Tetch. You know, the 'Mad Hatter'" she said, making quotation marks with her fingers.
"Huh. I never knew his real name".
"Well…"
"Wait a minute, doesn't he usually hang out in Gotham?"
"Yes, but the thing is…"
"What was he doing with the likes of Gorilla Grodd?"
"You see…"
"Bit of a step up for him don't ya think?"
There was a silence as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You gonna let me finish this story or do I have to hit you again with my mace?" she said, glaring at him, although she knew he couldn't see her.
"Sorry. Go ahead" he said putting his hands up.
"Thank you. You're right. Jervis has always been kind of a minor league villain, but uh, don't tell Bruce I said that. He thinks his rogue gallery is 'the bomb'".
"Uhm, Shayera?"
"Yeah?"
"People don't say 'the bomb' anymore".
His comment was met with a frown. "Aaanywaaay" she said, with emphasis. "It seems that Grodd brought Jervis up to the big leagues to help him brainstorm, sorry, bad pun, on developing another mind control device".
"Why? What did he need with the Mad Hatter?"
"John!" she said, exasperated and glaring at him.
"Jeez! Sorry" he said, laughing a little.
"If I could continue, there is a big difference between Grodd and Jervis. We both know Grodd has a natural ability to project mental blasts, but that won't let him control people. Jervis on the other hand, doesn't have any natural ability, but he does have the technology". She paused and preemptively glared at him, in anticipation of yet another interruption. None came. "The two of them built a mind control device that used Jervis' microchips instead of relying on isotopes. Granted, without the isotopes the range of the mind control device was limited, but still extremely effective". She yawned and put her right hand up to her mouth. "Sorry" she said, blinking away tears caused by her yawn.
He heard her yawn and sat up. "When is the last time you had some sleep?" he asked.
"I haven't slept since we brought you back to the Watchtower" she said. "You were in a bad way John. I…we didn't want to leave you" she said, softly, reaching out and touching his hand.
"How long have I been here?"
"Two days".
"Shayera…" he started.
"Shhh, let me finish. Jervis' microchips enhanced Grodd's mind control device, but it still required the planting of a receiving chip on the target. Of course we know now that you were the target".
"How? How did they get to me?" he asked, his voice rising.
"John…" she began and then paused.
He sensed her hesitation. "How, Shayera?" he asked, more directly.
"They had Star Sapphire…"
"No" he said softly and solemnly.
"I'm so sorry John. She…she planted the chip on Katma's wedding band. They replaced one of the diamonds". She paused again and her eyes shifted downward. "When you placed her wedding band on your hand at the funeral…"
Although still temporarily blind, he brought his left hand up to his face and used his thumb to caress their respective wedding bands. He then slowly made a fist. "Bastards!" he suddenly yelled through gritted teeth. "I put her ring on when they lowered the casket!" he said angrily. "Damn them!" he shouted, as he began to breath more rapidly.
"John…"
"They killed her! And for what! So they could get to me! They killed our ba…", but before he could finish, he began coughing and the diagnostic monitors began to loudly and rapidly beep in response to his excited, agitated state.
"John, you have to take it easy!" Shayera said with concern and looking up at the main monitor's readings. His entire upper body had become tense and both of his hands were now clenched fists. She gently lowered him back down so that he lay flat on the bed. As his breathing returned to normal, the monitors' beeping slowed and grew quieter.
Tears started to form through closed eyes as he slowly shook his head. "Why?"
"John, I…I really think I need to stop. You need the rest and the last thing I want to do is upset you right now".
"No. I'm okay…just…go on" he said, exhaling.
"You sure?" she said, with some concern.
"Yeah. It…it just hits me sometimes is all" he stated, wiping away tears. "Go on".
She inhaled and continued. "The years haven't quenched Grodd's desire to destroy Gorilla City or us for that matter. He was trying to use you to do both".
"How?"
"By breaching Gorilla City's security" she said standing up and stretching.
"Impossible. Gorrilla City has one of the best security systems in the world".
"Yeah, but who's going to question a distinguished Green Lantern Corp member when he shows up and asks for a tour of the facility?"
"Hmm. Good point".
"Anyway, his plan was for you to sabotage the control rods and damage the secondary containment structures of the city's nuclear reactor" she explained sitting back down on the bed.
"Cause a nuclear meltdown? Why?"
"Well for starters it would kill all the residents of Gorilla City".
"I meant besides that".
"It would kill just about everyone on the Watchtower too".
"I don't understand. How would a meltdown destroy the Watchtower? We'd just send…" And that's when it hit him. "Damn. Leave it to Grodd to know our standard operating procedures". She smiled knowing he had figured it out. "He knew we would send Captain Atom to absorb the resulting gamma radiation from the meltdown" he said shaking his head.
"Yep. Once Captain Atom received your distress signal, he would arrive, absorb the radiation and…"
"Then Grodd would jump from my mind to Captain Atom's" he interrupted. "Atom flies back to the Watchtower where he releases the absorbed radiation".
"Bingo" she validated.
"Gotta hand it to Grodd, that was a pretty good plan. So why didn't it work? Let me guess, is it because the microchip needed to be placed on the person being controlled? Atom wouldn't be wearing a microchip so Grodd was unable to control him, right?"
"Nice bit of sleuthing there, but you're wrong on that count. All Grodd needs is for another person to be touching someone with the microchip".
"Hmm. So Atom absorbs the radiation, picks up my body and zing, Grodd nabbs him".
"Zing? Is that like the standard mind control device noise or something?" she said laughing.
"Ha ha. Humor me" he said, crossing his arms. "Atom shows up with a now incapacitated Green Lantern and Watchtower security protocols get skipped in order to get me to the infirmary. I become the perfect key to two locked doors; Gorilla City and the Watchtower".
"You're getting good at this" she said, smiling. "I guess the Guardians were right about you after all. You are the 'Opener of Doors'" she said laughing a little.
"Nice. But, I don't remember going to Gorilla City".
"You didn't, but you wouldn't have remembered anyway because Grodd's mind control device suppresses conscious thoughts".
"So what happened? Besides the good guys coming in to save the day, I mean".
"Actually John, it was you who saved the day. You and that noggin'" she said, softly tapping his forehead with her index finger.
"I don't understand. What I remember are scattered images of mayhem and destruction and…dear God". He immediately sat up. "Shadow and Copperhead…" he said, with a look of disgust on his face. "I didn't, I mean, I couldn't…".
"Calm down John" she said, putting her left hand on his left shoulder. "We all thought the same thing too, but…" she exhaled deeply, "It wasn't you".
"That's little comfort. The fact that it was Grodd controlling me doesn't make me feel any less responsible for my actions!" he said, with a mix of agitation and regret.
"Will you shut up and listen! It wasn't you!" she said authoritatively.
A puzzled look came across his face.
"Like I said, at first we all thought you were responsible…even me, but you weren't. I just told you that Grodd's device suppresses conscious thought. Your power works via your conscious control. No conscious John Stewart, no Green Lantern".
"So how did…"
"I'm getting there! Just hold on!" she said, exasperated. She exhaled and pushed her bangs back before continuing, "For all his 'Gorillaness', Grodd's mind is very similar to a human's. It's this similarity that allows him to control people, but with you, he got in over his head. Sorry, bad pun number two".
He opened his mouth to speak, but she glared at him again so he said nothing.
"Through years of Lantern training and experience, your brain works differently than the average Joe. Your mind is extremely strong…sometimes" she said, with a smile. "But it seems you are a tough nut to crack" she continued, before realizing her mistake. "Do not even go there John" she said shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
"What? I didn't say anything!" he said innocently, but laughing a little.
"Anyway, to control you, Grodd had to get past two lines of defense. The first defense was your own natural mental strength, and the second your ability to control the ring. So he started softening you up by playing on your emotions after the funeral. The feelings of excessive grief you had…".
"All that time. I thought I was arguing with myself" he said, lowering his head. "I thought it was just my guilty conscious, but all along it was Grodd manipulating me".
"Well that's partly true, John. The feelings you had were real. Grodd's machine can't create those, but he can heighten them thanks to the Mad Hatter's microchips. You felt legitimately guilty so he used that to…"
"Break me down" he said sadly, finishing her sentence.
"Yes. He thought he had broken you too, but he hadn't counted on your second line of defense. He hadn't counted on the part of your brain that controls the ring".
"'The mind is the weapon not the metal'" he quoted his deceased wife. "To be a Lantern you have to learn how to think on a different level".
"Exactly. Problem is that Grodd didn't know how to think like a Lantern so he enlisted someone who did".
"Sinestro!" he said, angrily.
She nodded her head in affirmation. "It was Grodd's inability to control you by himself that ultimately lead to his defeat".
"Wait, Sinestro and Grodd play for the same team. How did their partnership fail?"
"No honor among thieves, remember? Sinestro was initially a team player when he agreed to mentally join with Grodd to help control you. In essence, you had two foreign psyches in your head. Three counting yourself".
"They were tag teaming my conscious?" he asked, with a frown.
"For lack of a better word, yes. Grodd would act as John Stewart and Sinestro would act as Green Lantern".
"I think I'm gonna be sick" he replied.
"Problem is that when Sinestro got a chance to be 'you', he got power hungry. The power of two Lanterns in one was too tempting for him and he tried to overthrow Grodd. He wanted to control you himself so he could humiliate you and ultimately use you to destroy the League".
"A good old fashioned Mutiny".
"Yep. Grodd couldn't have that so he sent Shadow, Copperhead and Star Sapphire after Sinestro. Well…you saw the results".
"So it…it wasn't me" he said, with relief.
"I told you so!" she said hitting him in the arm. "On the surface, the debris from the battle and the cause of the injuries had all the earmarks of a Lantern. So that assumption was right. We just pegged the wrong Lantern".
"Sinestro's no Lantern" he said, frowning.
"Sorry. After Sinestro engaged Shadow and Copperhead, he had his hands full trying to stop Star Sapphire. She's just as powerful as he is and their fight became a stalemate. So he used the mind control device…"
"And augmented his power through me" he said, once again finishing her sentence.
"Correct. When we arrived, we saw you holding Star Sapphire and Superman, but it was really Sinestro controlling you at that point".
"So what happened?"
"Well, as the saying goes, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'".
"Grodd".
"He allowed your psyche to break free just long enough for me to reach you and for you to signal us".
He exhaled and turned his head away.
"John?" she said, hesitantly. "I gotta know. That was 'you' I was talking to when that saw appeared, wasn't it?" she asked, softly.
He didn't answer.
"You wanted to kill her, and I know you feel bad about that…"
"No" he interrupted. "I don't feel bad about wanting to kill her. I've wanted to kill her since Katma's death, but when I had the chance…I couldn't do it" he said, turning and looking back toward her direction. "I guess I wasn't strong enough".
"You're wrong John" she said, shaking her head. "Not killing her doesn't make you weak. On the contrary, it makes you stronger than you know. You had the ability and the opportunity to destroy your enemy, yet the willpower not to. Many in your exact position wouldn't have hesitated, but that's what makes you, 'you'".
"I didn't do it alone" he said reaching out to her. "You were there for me".
She took his hand and squeezed it. "You were there for me first".
There was a brief silence as they held each other's hand.
"So what happened to Grodd and Sinestro?" he said, breaking the silence.
"We captured Sinestro after J'onn separated him from your mind. The shock left him unconscious long enough for us to pinpoint his location".
"And Grodd?"
"Unfortunately, Grodd got away, but not before scaring the hell out of me".
"What do you mean?"
"When J'onn removed Sinestro, he removed Green Lantern, which left just John Stewart. Therefore, Grodd was still connected to you. When I was searching for your heartbeat, I was in contact with your chest. As you came to, you began to speak, but it was Grodd's voice coming out".
"How? He can't change my voice".
"Well in actuality, it was still your voice, but in my mind, I heard Grodd. My proximity to the microchip and the residual effects from J'onn's removal of Sinestro, had allowed Grodd's psyche to bleed over into mine. That's the only reason we knew Grodd was even involved".
"You're telling me that had that not happened, I might still be under Grodd's influence?" he asked, with some anxiety.
"Yes and no. Grodd had been injured to the point that he couldn't free himself. J'onn removed him only after a full confession".
"Wow".
"No John. Weird. It was weird watching Grodd use you like a ventriloquist dummy as he spilled the beans".
"You mean…"
"Yes, Grodd confessed through you".
"Are you telling me that I was some kinda…life-size Teddy Ruxpin!"
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know who or what a Teddy Ruxpin is, but if that means you were an expressionless, mannequin-like thing with moving lips, then yes, you were a Teddy…whatever".
"Oh nice!"
"Well if it's any consolation, you sang like a dove".
"Uhm, the word you're looking for there is 'canary'. I sang like a canary".
"Whatever".
"Sapphire. What happened to her?"
"She is being held for murder".
"Where?"
"John…"
"Where, Shayera?"
"Gorilla City. She's in lockdown at Gorilla City. You said so yourself, it's one of the most secure places on Earth".
"Is that for her protection or mine?" he asked, with a bit of sarcasm.
"Both".
"I see" he said, frowning. "And Grodd?"
"Well I'm sure he is going to be doing what he does every night" she said, laughing in anticipation.
"And what's that?"
"Planning to take over the world" she said in her best Brain impersonation.
He laughed aloud. "Narf!" he said trying to imitate Pinky. Both of them laughed.
"Now less talk, more sleep" she said leaning over and kissing him on the forehead. She stood up and began walking toward the door. "I'll come back and check on you in a little while".
"Shy?" he called out.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks…for everything".
"You're welcome. Now get some sleep…Teddy" she replied, walking out.