Chapter 23: Bereft
Bialya
September 3, 23:45 EEST
My mind… It feels like it's in a fog…
Where am I? What am I doing in this…
I have to get back… Before they find me…
Oa
September 4, 07:56 UTC
"I still can't believe I let myself get wrapped in this", I say.
"Come on", Jordan says. "You'll do great. What's the worst thing that'll happen?"
"Not do my job right and risk the lives of my fellow Lanterns."
"Since when are you the pessimist?" He asks jokingly.
"I'm not, but I never trained anyone, GL or not. I just don't know if I'll do a good job."
"Hey", he says as he looks me dead in the eye, "Kilowog wouldn't have asked you to do this for him if he thought you weren't capable of it. You make a great GL and a greater hero. I'm sure you'll make a great training instructor too."
"I hope so." I breath in slowly, then exhale out as I look into Oa's training room, the Hazard Simulation Facility. When it's not being used for new GL rookies, it's used for mandatory training sessions. Normally, Kilowog would be doing this, since he's the Corps' drill sergeant. But he's away helping Thanagar deal with a couple of Gordanians. And apparently, I was his next choice. I don't know why though, I figured he'd pick Jordan to do it instead of me. But there's nothing I can do about it now. "Here goes nothing."
As I enter the training room, I find myself surrounded by at least a dozen or so Green Lanterns, who're all waiting for the session to begin. Some of them I recognize, such as Larvox and Chaselon, but there are a couple GLs I don't know too well. Most likely from being from other faraway sectors and I haven't seen or met them on Oa yet. They're about to meet you now.
"GLs! Attention!" I yell as loud as I can. That immediately grabs their attention, with all of them talking no longer and looking towards me. Well, I have their attention. Now do something, Rayner.
"For those of you who don't know me, my name is Kyle Rayner. I am a Green Lantern of Sector 2814, or better known as Earth. I'm here to oversee you're training and review your progress in today's training session."
"Lantern Rayner?", Chaselon says as he raises his tentacle. "Why isn't Sergeant Kilowog here?"
"The Guardians has sent Kilowog on a mission to Thanagar. He asked me to fill in for him while he is away. Is that okay with you, Lantern Chaselon?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good! To start off, let's run through a simulation Kilowog devised for you all before he left." I walk over to the control console board to my left. I activate the simulation already preset for their training. "And begin!"
For the next 30 minutes, or what feels like an hour, the GLs run through the simulation at least five times. Kilowog is really stepping up his game. It took them at least another 30 minutes their third try to wipe out most of their enemies without getting toasted. On their eighth try, they finally pulled together and managed to take out all their offenses and get the civilians in it to safety. Victory was in their hands… until a certain Apokoliptan dictator shows up and wipes the floor with all of them in less than a minute. Geez, Kilowog. You kinda made this new simulation… impossible.
I decide to end their simulation and give them a ten minute reprieve. After they get their second wind (for the most part), I bring them all around me in a circle.
"Okay, now we're going to try our hand in hand-to-hand combat."
"Why would we need to learn to know that?"
"Excuse me?" I ask. "Whoever said that, come forward now."
No sooner, the GL comes forth in front of the crowd. The GL in question looks like a dog that walks on two legs instead of four, with brown fur, floppy ears and a grey full mustache. He has on a baggy one piece green outfit, going from his legs to his arms, and with his GL symbol on his chest. His ring fits around his whole hand, since it appears he has no opposable thumbs. Must be new to the Corps, or else I'd remember seeing a walking, talking dog on Oa lately.
"Please state your name and sector, Lantern."
"G'nort Esplanade G'neeshmacher of Sector X Minus 526-.-2." Try saying that five times in a row.
"Okay, G'nort. You think you don't need to learn hand-to-hand combat. Why is that?"
He stammers for a few seconds before answering my question. "Because it's not really necessary. With our power rings, we can make ourselves any weapon or tool we need to fight criminals and bad guys."
"I see then. How long have you been with the Corps, G'nort?"
"Only two months, sir."
"You're greener than I thought, newbie. Well I can understand why you think that. Some of us think that when we joined the Corps, myself included."
"You did?"
"Yes. But I learned quickly that our rings aren't enough. We have to be in top physical condition to weather whatever comes our way. Same goes for our minds, have to keep them sharp. Be more observant and alert to things we'd normally waive off as unimportant. We also need to know how to defend ourselves against an opponent when needed, especially when our rings run out of power. We can't rely on them forever."
G'nort, along with the other GLs, listen carefully to what I have to say, taking it in all they can I hope. I may not be used to being an authority figure or giving demands to others, but from the way they're looking towards me, I guess I'm not half bad at it.
"I understand now, Lantern Rayner. Please forgive me for asking something so stupid", G'nort says with a stutter in his voice.
I sigh with relief, knowing he knows better. I walk to G'nort and put my right hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't a stupid question. I'm glad you asked it, so now you know why you need to know these things. And please, call me Kyle. Lantern Rayner sounds too formal." I say with a smile.
"Yes sir, Kyle." He says as he raises his right hand to his head in salute.
"Okay then. Now if there aren't any more questions, we can start."
Almost an hour after our combat course, the training session is finally over. All the GLs are exiting the Simulation Facility, leaving me by myself in this big, open space of a room.
"Well, I actually made it through training. Hope I did alright."
"I'm sure you did fine. Still, I can't believe the Sergeant put you in charge of training."
"Yeah, me too." Wait, I'm not alone anymore.
I turn around to find someone I did not expect to see. In the doorway, there stands beautiful girl, with green hair, eyes and skin. Wearing a white and black uniform, the white on her leggings, arms and chest, and the black on her thighs and upper arms. On her chest lies her emblem: a green, eight-pointed star. Even without seeing the green beauty, I'd know that smirk from anywhere.
"Jen!" I say with excitement, raising my hands high.
"How goes it, Rayner." I rush over to Jen and give her a Mammoth strong bear hug. She hugs me back, her arms around my back.
"It's so been so long, I've missed you."
"I missed you too, Kyle."
I pull back from my bear hug, not wanting to stick to her. "I thought you were traveling the cosmos."
"I was. I decided it was time for me to come back home. I missed my friends and family."
"Aww, I was missed." I get a punch in the arm after I say that.
"Course I missed you. You're the best friend and partner a Lantern could ask for."
"Even though you're technically not a Green Lantern."
"Well not like you and all the other Corpsmen. Upside though, I'm not limited by a power ring that needs to be charged every time it runs out of juice."
"Yeah, you got me there." Okay, so Jen isn't a Green Lantern, but she does have the powers of them, with an added bonus.
Jennifer-Lynn Haden, better known as Jade when superheroing. She's the daughter of Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of the JSA, and Rose Canton, also called Thorn, an enemy of Scott and the JSA. She and her twin brother, Todd Rice, were given up as babies to keep them from any danger Thorn or any villain presented at the time. Her powers, along with her skin and hair turning green, started to show during her teens. Jade can create constructs herself without the use of a power ring, as well as be able to fly. She also has some control over plants.
Even though she isn't a Green Lantern, Jade has assisted the Corps plenty of times. Actually, we met on a mission when I was still learning to be a Lantern under Hal. Not only did she help keep me alive, we found we work great together. Every chance we got, we teamed up for a mission given by the Guardians or some criminal was attacking Coast City. We've been great friends ever since.
"Have you seen your brother yet?"
"Todd, no not yet. As soon as I get back to Earth I will, no doubt he's been miserable without me."
"Oh yeah, dreadfully miserable."
"Speaking of Earth, I hear you've been on it a lot lately. Salaak says that you haven't been on Oa for a good two months now."
"It hasn't been… Has it? Wow, I guess it has. But yeah, I've been on Earth a lot. Me and some other young heroes put together a team and we've been working together ever since."
"You part of a team? Pinch me, I must be dreaming."
"What? I can work well with others."
"Yeah, tell that to Stewart." Don't ask. "So, who all is on this team of yours?"
"Well there's Aqualad, our leader. Robin, our junior bat detective. Superboy, our grouchy Kryptonian. Miss Martian, or M'gann, the full of joy Martian. Artemis, the female Robyn Hood. Kid Flash, our joke of a speedster. And finally, the White Canary, the beautiful and badass songbird."
"Wow, sounds like you've got quite the team. I gotta meet them sometime."
"Sure, whenever we're all free and on the same planet."
Salaak enters the room, looking as placid as ever. "Kyle Rayner of Earth. You are needed by the Guardians."
"What for? What did I do wrong now?"
"Nothing. They said it was of great urgency you see to them."
"Well whatever it is, I'm sure—", I stop midsentence as my ring flares up like a firework.
"What's up with your ring, Kyle?", Jade asks me. Oh no. Sara.
"I have to go to Earth." I say as I start running out of the building.
"Kyle!" Jade runs after me, most likely wanting an explanation. "What about the Guardians? Salaak said it was urgent."
"The Guardians can wait. This is more urgent."
"What is?"
"That team I told you about? I gave them an alert construct in case something went wrong on a mission. Something's gone wrong."
I levitate off the ground. Jade shouts at me before I take off. "What do I tell the Guardians?"
"Tell them I'll be back as soon as I can!" After that, I take off fast as ever back to Earth. Hold on guys, I'm coming.
Bialya
September 4, 09:17 EEST
This is not how I thought my day would start out.
I wake up a few hours ago, finding myself in the middle of a desert. Where, I don't know. How I got here, don't know either. I've been trying to find someone, anyone who can tell me where I am. If they don't comply, I'll make them.
No! You're not torturing anyone. You're better than that now.
Anyways, I also found myself in some kind of leather outfit. All in white. If I'm trying to start a new fashion trend, it's not happening anytime soon.
But the weirdest part of my day is that I don't remember anything. Not of how any of whatever this is happened and what I'm doing in it. The last thing I do remember is spending the day training with Roy, even having arm wrestling contests, all while Dinah and Oliver train/flirt with each other.
Dinah. I hope she's not hurt, or worried about me. Who am I kidding? She's always worried about me. Which is why I have no social or super life.
I climb up to the top of a sand dune. I look beyond the horizon, seeing more of the desert and cliffs as well. Even though I'm completely lost and blanked out, the sight to behold is majestic and amazing to watch.
I turn my head right. I hear something in the distance. An engine. A vehicle. Someone's coming.
I take a deep breath and bury myself into the sands, hiding from whoever is coming. I wiggle my head up enough to see but still be hidden. I see the vehicle, which is black and tan, armored, with several men aboard. Men wearing protective armor and carrying guns. Military, or military based.
A minute after the vehicle passes me, I dig myself out of the sand. I look down to myself, finding sand sticking to my outfit. I can also feel sand inside of it. Places in which sand should not be.
Safest idea right now is to stay out of trouble and find someone who isn't armed that can tell me where I am, hoping they give me a phone to call with or shelter for the night. Though knowing me, trouble will find me.
Mount Justice
September 4, 14:06 EDT
I'm zooming my way through space back to Earth as fast as possible. I finally see the planet in a distance, able to spot it easily. I make way for the states, specifically Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. Mount Justice.
Coming out of the stratosphere, through the clouds I can see the mountain / secret base easily. I try to slow down, but it's proving to be difficult. At how fast I'm reentering Earth's atmosphere, I'll be lucky to land alive, let alone safely.
I aim myself to the right of the mountainside, aiming for the harbor itself. Looking ahead towards the water, I close my eyes and hold my breath. Looks like I'm about to experience a Jordan-like crash landing!
What comes next, I feel the weight of the water's surface hitting my body. Hard. I've hit bodies of water before, but not this hard or fast. Thankfully, I have my ring and body armor to protect my body, for the most part. Still, it feels like concrete breaking in half and their halves breaking further and further more.
For the next couple of minutes I just lie in the ocean, thriving in pain. I almost black out a moment there. But I shake myself out of it, remembering what I'm here for. My friends.
I swim to the surface, breathing in the fresh air. I inhale and exhale loudly from the adrenaline rush I just had. "WOOOOO!" I laugh in excitement, shaking my now wet hair.
I bring my ring up to me. I create a construct of a battery. More specifically the ring's battery itself. All GL rings run on energy, but that energy runs out eventually, which is why we have power batteries to recharge them when needed. More than half of the battery is filled with bright green, while the rest is empty black.
"I've got more than half of energy, okay. Should be enough to fly out to the Team and handle whatever's happening to them. Now I just gotta find out what's happening to them."
I rise from the water and fly my way over to Mount Justice. I fly over to the backdoor. I land in front of the steel door, facing the camera placed above.
"Red Tornado, open the backdoor now! This is an emergency!"
Thankfully, the doors open instantly. I immediately fly into the base. I reach the control room, where Tornado is at.
"Green Lantern Rayner. What brings you to the Cave?"
"The Team. Where are they?"
"Away on mission."
"I know that, I mean where on mission? They're in trouble."
"What leads you to believe this?"
I create the beacon construct. "I gave Sara this. It's a beacon construct, an alert system for me when whoever has it is in deep trouble. All they have to do is press it", I press on the construct. My ring lights up brightly. "And it lets me know something is wrong. Sara must have pressed it, and she wouldn't have pressed it if she didn't need my help. My teammates need me. Now, please Red, where are they?"
Tornado stares at me with the same blank expression as always. He stays silent, not answering. Then his silence breaks.
"Bialya. Their drop-site is in Qurac, right on the border of Bialya.
"Why did Batman send them to Bialya?"
"The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in their desert. Non-terrestrial elements were found."
"Alien. A spacecraft crash landed, or something teleported there?"
"Unconfirmed. Batman ordered radio silence from the Team. He did not want to risk any details of the mission being intercepted by the Bialyans."
"Bialya isn't a friend to the League, is it?"
"No, it is not. Nor is their ruler, Queen Bee."
"With a title like that, I can't see why. Thanks Red." I make my way for the backdoor until Tornado stops me.
"Do tread carefully, Lantern Rayner. If Queen Bee captures you or any of your teammates, she will most likely retaliate."
"Don't worry, Tornado. I'll be as sly as Sara is." I take flight into the sky, leaving Mount Justice behind me. I hope they're all okay by now.
Biayla
September 4, 15:47 EEST
I continue my trek through the desolate desert for what feels like forever. I'm just glad I haven't died of thirst by now. When I woke up, I had a canteen of water on me. Hardly drunken from by then. But now it's almost empty. If I don't some water or someone who can help, I might be in trouble.
The ground shakes, like a small earthquake. I might be in trouble now.
The shaking grows louder, and closer. I bring out my bo staff, taking my stance. I search my surroundings, but see no one. Maybe it was nothing.
Something stomps onto the ground a few feet from me, knocking me to the ground. I turn around, staff still in hand, and find what's making the ground quake.
Correction: who's making the ground quake. A young boy, wearing only cargo pants and boots. Very muscular. And from the looks of it, very angry.