This is Part III of the My Gift To You Birthday Special. Last time, Blaze and her team of the mystically inclined met up with Doctor Fate and the allies he summoned, Etrigan the Demon and John Constantine, the latter acting as a host for the former. The team complete, the group set off to stop Scarecrow from finding Darkblood. We'll catch up with them later, because right now, there's two missions going on. Let's see what's going on beyond the stars.

(Our story picks up aboard the Javelin 7, where, escorted by Green Lantern and John Stewart, Shade and his team are jetting towards Ysmault, hoping to find information on Captain Avarice)

Shade: Alright, catch me up on what's going on here.

Hawkgirl: If Hal and John are to be believed, there's intel on this Captain Avarice person in an old Green Lantern Corps prison on Ysmault.

Shade: I'm not very familiar with this Ysmault place.

Lobo: Consider yourself lucky then. Everyone else here knows it's where the baddest bastiches this side of the Milky Way hang out.

Belial Aether: This Red Lantern Corps you mentioned.

Starfire: Exactly. They are a formidable force.

Shade: They sound similar enough to Green Lanterns, chances are their weaknesses are similar.

(Just as Shade makes this observation, the ship's comm lines become active)

Green Lantern: Heads up everybody, we're about to breach Ysmault's atmosphere.

(And within minutes, the ship has made it through the atmosphere of Ysmault. As the ship lands and everybody exits, Shade looks out over the desolate landscape of the world)

Shade: Where did you say that old prison was again?

John Stewart: You're standing on it.

Shade: Wait, this whole world is the prison?

Green Lantern: Yep.

Shade: So where are we even supposed to start looking?!

John Stewart: Follow me.

(But as the group takes off after the two Green Lanterns, a series of eyes starts tracking them across the skyline. The Red Lantern Corps has found them.)

Zilius Zox: Intruders have breached our atmosphere!

Atrocitus: I am well aware, Zox! It's not like their ship was easy to miss or anything.

Rankorr: What's the plan then, boss?

Atrocitus: What else? We find them, and we kill them.

Bleez: Particularly the Green Lantern.

Zilius Zox: Which one? There were two last I saw.

Bleez: Hal Jordan is among them.

Atrocitus: This changes things then. They are harboring a fugitive from justice. AFTER THEM!

(And without a second thought, a veritable army of Red Lanterns takes off after Shade's team, eventually arriving in front of them)

Atrocitus: HAL JORDAN!

Green Lantern: Atrocitus. And here I thought we were going to be stealthy

Atrocitus: With all the sins on your head, coming here was the worst mistake of your life! I have kept track of all the innocents you slaughtered while part of Sinestro's Corps.

Green Lantern: I would've thought your revenge would be complete when you killed Sinestro.

Atrocitus: His victims were avenged. Yours weren't! Well, that changes today!

Shade: (Flying to the front) Listen, Atrocitus was it?

Atrocitus: Who are you?!

Shade: My name is Shade, I am a representative of the Element Guard.

Atrocitus: Your order's name rings a bell. You fought against Superman's Regime if I am not mistaken.

Shade: Correct.

Atrocitus: Justice has been wrought by your hands. Yet even now, you fail to bring it.

Shade: (Getting aggravated) In what way?

Atrocitus: Your leader's killer remains uncaught.

Shade: (Trying to keep his cool, but failing) Aquaman's as slippery as an eel, what can I say?

Atrocitus: That is the minor point. (Raises his ring in anger) Your worst sin is harboring this fugitive!

Shade: You mean Hal? He's made up for his past, at least in the eyes of the Guardians of the Universe.

Atrocitus: THEIR WORD MEANS NOTHING HERE!

Shade: Look, this doesn't have to end in a fight. We just came here for information. The Green Lanterns left a file on one of our newer adversaries here while they operated it as a prison. Just let us get the file and we will leave.

Zilius Zox: Do you honestly expect that to work?! Nice try!

Atrocitus: Hold, Zox. Perhaps a compromise can be achieved. I know where the file you seek is. Their database was not far from where our Central Power Battery stands today.

Shade: Will you bring us to it then?

Atrocitus: We will trade the information you seek, FOR HAL JORDAN'S LIFE!

Green Lantern: Not a chance, gruesome!

Shade: Hal, calm down, we may be able to talk him out of this!

Lobo: Yeah, that's not going to work, bub. If there's one thing I know about Atrocitus, it's that when he sets terms, you either accept them or die.

Atrocitus: You know all too well what evil Hal Jordan is capable of. Considering he's the one responsible for that gash in your side, isn't he?

(At this moment, Shade subconsciously holds a giant scar on his right side, one we've never seen before, as he reminisces back to how he got it. And as he flashes back, we see a much younger Shade fighting Hal Jordan, then going by Yellow Lantern, in the skies over Coast City)

Yellow Lantern: You've got some guts, kid. But not even you can outrun this light.

Shade: A light is only as strong as the shadow it casts.

Yellow Lantern: That doesn't even make sense!

(With that, Yellow Lantern generates a sword construct that Shade manages to fight off with his Shadow breath. And for a while, he holds out. But then, Yellow Lantern gets tired of this and uses the hilt of the construct to knock Shade off his concentration before stabbing him with it, causing him to fall to the ground as the wound bleeds. As Yellow Lantern lands and looks down on him, we transition back to the present day. Shade staring at his scar and looking up at Green Lantern, who now has a worried look on his face)

Green Lantern: Kid, are you seriously considering his offer?

Atrocitus: Well then, what will it be, dragon? The data you seek, or this murderer's life?

(And as Shade thinks this through, our scene ends for today)

This concludes Part III of the My Gift To You Birthday Special. For the Finale, head on over to the Dissidia Final Fantasy Intros. Quite the conundrum we've left Shade in. Does he accomplish the mission at the cost of Green Lantern's life? Or does he tough it out for someone who has left a literal lasting scar on him? I wonder how you would react. Let me know what you think Shade's going to do. So how's this showdown on Ysmault going to pan out? Or will we be seeing how Blaze and company are doing? Tune in next time to find out! Same time... same channel!