Chapter 3

Old Ruins; Penelo (Sector 1355)

The two Lanterns landed on a barren world, Hal dropped Kilowog onto the ground, giving him room to breathe and recover. The Bolovaxian groaned before rising to his knees before raising his ring in defense.

"Whoa, hold it." Hal shouted, holding his hands up in defense "It's just me."

Kilowog rubbed his head before getting on his feet. "Where are we?" he asked, examining their surroundings.

"I don't know." Hal responded "But we need to get out of here."

"What? Why?" Kilowog took an intimidating pose. "We gotta go back."

"We can't, there were too many of them. They could have killed us."

"How could you just leave like that? Now the Manhunters are gonna take Bolovax Vik."

"We can't go back, there's only two of us. If we go, it would be suicide."

"I swore an oath to protect my sector, even if it means I have to die to do it."

Kilowog then blasted off into space.

"Kilowog, wait" Hal shouted as the towering alien disappeared into the blackness of space. "I can't go after him. I don't even know where he's going."

Hal then descended back to the surface and began exploring his surroundings. Looking around, he noticed many strange buildings along with bones of many different types of creatures. The bones looked like those of marine life, funny considering there didn't seem to be any bodies of water on the surface when they arrived. As for the buildings, they were really strange, although they reminded Hal of something he had seen once on the news. Though it was mostly a nut-job claiming that Atlantis was real.

One building in particular caught his attention, though. A large, faintly green one with an all too familiar symbol, well familiar at this point. That of the Green Lantern Corps.

Hal got closer to the building before entering through a large door, inside was a large carcass. It looked like a giant octopus with a single eye on top of its head. On one of its tentacles was something Hal immediately recognized, a Green Lantern Ring.

"What happened here?" he asked before he stepped on something metallic. Looking down to the ground, he saw several robotic pieces scattered around the room. "Manhunters" he whispered.

"Penelops" a voice said, Hal turned towards the entrance of the building to see Kilowog, a mournful look on his face. "He was the Green Lantern of this sector, and this was his Homeworld."

"He looks like he's been here for quite a while."

"I knew him. We started out around the same time, he actually took me here once. This was once a water world, with a large ocean covering it. Then, the Manhunters came and killed everyone. Now look at it, it's a dry wasteland. Can't believe I didn't recognize it earlier."

"Why'd you come back?"

"Because you were right. We can't go back just the two of us, it wouldn't do any good if got ourselves killed."

"Do you think we'll be able to find the other Lanterns?"

"Maybe, we were always scattered to the stars, so it's possible some of them survived. Convincing them will be the real challenge."

"Why is that?"

"Remember when I told you that our rings are powered by Will-power?" Hal nodded, Kilowog lowered his head to the ground "Well, our rings don't really work in the presence of fear. The Manhunters pretty much struck fear all over the galaxy, it's part of the reason Bolovax Vik became isolated. Not to mention this rumor that the Manhunters destroyed the central battery on Oa, so our rings aren't as powerful."

Cantina; Korugar (1417)

Hal and Kilowog walked into the large cantina, the pilot looked confused. A cantina seemed like the last place to find a Green Lantern. The two approached the counter, the bar tender looked at them before walking up to them.

"Are you here for a drink?" he asked, unamused.

"Actually, we're looking for someone" Hal responded "I believe his name was Thaal Sinestro or something."

The bar went silent, all the pedestrians turned to look at them.

"If you're looking for the Green Lantern of this sector he's over there." The bar tender turned to a large table with a lone figure sitting on it, a tall man with light red skin and pitch black hair with a small goatee.

The two walked up to him, Sinestro turned to look at them while taking a sip of his drink.

"Shouldn't you be in your isolated rock, Kilowog?" he asked, somewhat mockingly, then he turned to look at Hal "Who's this?"

"My name is Hal Jordan." Hal introduced himself "I'm from Earth."

"Earth, eh? Sector 2814, wasn't that Abin Sur's sector?"

"It seems the Manhunters got him." Kilowog responded "They also took my Homeworld."

"Oh, I see. Well, I always said it would happen either way." Sinestro brought his drink to his lips.

"That's exactly why we're here, we're trying to see if you can help us free Kilowog's planet." Hal commented.

"And why should I risk my life for Bolovax Vik, exactly. What do I gain out of this?" Sinestro placed his drink back on the table "I don't know if you know this, rookie, but only a skilled and powerful lantern can defeat a Manhunter. What makes you think you can do the same to a large group of them?"

"Because I've seen him do it." Kilowog responded, Sinestro stopped his drink mere inches from his lips. "I know things are bad, but we can take the Galaxy back from the Manhunters if we reunite the Corps."

Sinestro looked down at his drink in thought, letting out a sigh he turned to face his fellow Lanterns. "I'm sorry, Kilowog, but it's time we faced fact. The Corps is dead, the Manhunters won."

Hal and Kilowog stood in silence before turning to look at each other. "Come on, Kilowog." Hal said "Let's get out of here."

As Hal walked away, Kilowog looked at Sinestro in disbelief.

"You used to be one of the best in the Corps, an example of what a Green Lantern should be. When did you chose to let fear dominate you?" With that, Kilowog turned around, following Hal and they both left the cantina.

Sinestro was left alone, he brought his drink to his mouth and chugged the whole thing. Placing the now empty glass on the table, he turned towards the counter. "Another please."

Grand Metropolis; Xudar (Sector 2813)

Hal and Kilowog walked through what appeared to be a partly reconstructed city. The Inhabitants moved around, doing as best they could to rebuild some of the previously destroyed buildings.

The two then stopped as one of these creatures stood out from the rest.

"There." Kilowog pointed at a particular Xudarian, at first he didn't draw that much attention until Hal noticed the ring on his finger. "Tomar-Re" Kilowog shouted, catching the bird like creature's attention.

"Kilowog?" Tomar-Re asked in disbelief "Why it's been some time." The Xudarian turned to face Hal "And who are you?"

"My name is Hal Jordan" the pilot responded "We came because we need help."

"Listen, the Manhunters attacked my world. We're trying to take it back."

"Then you came to the wrong place." Tomar-Re then began walking away.

"Wait, Tomar." Kilowog shouted as they chased after him.

"I'm sorry, Kilowog, but there's nothing we can do. No one regrets it any more than I do, but Bolovax Vik is lost."

"So you'd rather just stay here and hide like a coward?" Hal shouted, Tomar-Re extended his hand towards him.

"I am not hiding, Hal Jordan. I am helping my people rebuild as best as possible so that we are ready the next time the Manhunters decide to pay a visit. I would advise that you return to your world and do the same before it falls."

Tomar-Re lowered his hand, the glow on his ring banishing as he did so. The Xudarian then turned around and continued to walk away. Hal scoffed as he and Kilowog turned to leave.

"We came here looking for a proud member of the Green Lantern Corps" Hal stated, catching Tomar-Re's attention "But instead we found a coward."

As the two departed, Tomar-Re noticed a large number of his people looking at him. Lowering his head down in shame for a minute, Tomar reflected on what it meant to be a member of the Corps. Giving a heavy sigh, he turned towards his people.

"Let's get back to work" he said, flying into the air as the rest scrambled to perform their duties.