This story was requested nearly a year ago by the person who gave my my first few reviews, and I've been planning it for a long time. I watched the Green Lantern Animated series to prepared to write the different Lantern Corps, and it was actually better than I thought it would be. That also gave me the idea to include Razer in the story. I still haven't watched season 4, I'm waiting until I'm done writing year five so I don't end up copying anything, but when I was looking up pictures to describe the suits I saw that it included him. I just felt the need to put that in here, since this isn't the first thing that I've written that has been on the show. Anyway, hope you like it, please review.
Mallory only got four hours of sleep before she had to get up for her first class, but she didn't feel as tired as she had before talking to Alex the night before. There was something freeing about talking to someone that didn't know the extent of the pressure she was under. It made her feel normal for a little while, like her problems really were pretty small in the grand scheme of things, like she was just a speck in the universe.
Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last. She hadn't even finished getting ready for her class when her comm clicked on. She pressed the button, and Batman called all Leaguers to the watchtower. She looked at the clock, wondering if she could get away with being an hour late to the meeting, or if she should just get the assignment online. She hated to miss a class, she'd managed to have pretty good attendance despite everything. She sighed, deciding that she could survive not going to one class. It was the only one she had that day, anyway, since two of her others had been canceled. She threw on her suit and zetaed to the watchtower quickly.
When she got there, she saw that most of the League was already assembled, and Hal and Barry were talking to the side, John Stewart across the room talking to Batman and Wonder Woman. She went over to Hal.
"Welcome home," she said.
He grinned at her, nodding once. "Thanks, but it's not for long. I just came back to update the League and get some volunteers," he replied.
"Volunteers for what?" Mallory asked.
Hal shrugged. "The Guardians have planned a peace summit for all the Corps, but the rules are only two rings per corp, and the Guardians think we might need some interference."
"So it's you and John for the Greens?" Mallory asked.
Hal shook his head. "No, John's staying on Earth. It's going to be me and Killowog. Oh, well, I guess you haven't met him yet, have you?"
Mallory shook her head.
"You'll love him. He's a great person to have on your side in battle, and a great person to have around when you're out of it," Barry said.
Mallory nodded, and Batman called the League to their seats at the table. John explained the situation to them, and Hal told them that they could use some backup. After he explained what the volunteers would need to do, which was just standing around unless one of the corps tried to start something, he looked at Batman and Superman and said, "I was thinking this would be a good mission to bring the newer members on."
Mallory leaned forwards, interested now. Batman was nodding slowly. "It would be a good opportunity to get them familiar with off-world missions," he said thoughtfully.
Superman looked less convinced. "Do you expect anything to happen?" he asked.
Hal smiled a little. "Well, I'll put it like this. We're holding a peace summit for a reason."
"But," John added, giving Hal a look, "the rings that come to the summit will be the best their corps has to offer, or at least the best that want to go, so it shouldn't be complete chaos."
Superman nodded his consent, and the Leaguers looked at the newest members. "What do you say?" Flash asked.
Mallory exchanged a glance with Zatanna and Raquel and saw the same excitement that she felt glowing on their faces. She half shrugged. "Sure," she said, and the others said the same.
"Ok, so we'll need a few more, maybe three or four," Hal said. It took a few minutes, but at length it was decided that besides Inferno, Zatanna, Rocket, and Blue Beetle, three Leaguers would come: Icon, Captain Atom, and Captain Marvel.
At the end of the brief meeting, Hal said, "all right, whoever's coming with me, we'll leave in an hour. Bring supplies for a few days, just in case, but we shouldn't need chaperones for that long."
The League broke, most of them going to the zeta tubes so they could rush off to work. Mallory, Zatanna, and Raquel hung back for a few minutes, then huddled together to use the tube to get to the cave so they could stock up. They were expecting the cave to be deserted, with everyone but Gar and Megan having other places to be, but when they got there, they were surprised to see Dick on the sofa in civies playing a video game.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked when they appeared in the tube.
"Getting supplies for a mission. What are you doing here?" Zatanna asked.
Dick shrugged. "Got someone to cover my shift. I needed some relaxing time," he replied, his fingers flying over the controls as his character fought a monster on the screen. The girls watched it for a moment from the back of the couch.
"Haven't seen you play in a while now. It's good to see you relaxing for a change," Raquel said, then she smirked and added, "but you should be using the time to catch up on sleep. You look terrible."
Dick just chuckled, giving her a sideways look. She grinned and went to her room, Zatanna not far behind. Mallory lingered, her eyes glued to the screen.
"I saw the news last night. That was Wren, wasn't it?"
Dick smiled, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Yeah," he admitted.
Mallory nodded. "Well, I guess I'm gonna have to call her Jett from now on. What happened?"
"She and Bruce had some problems, she said that she couldn't bear to spend another second as his partner, yada yada yada. Nothing that hasn't happened before," he said with a grin.
"What kind of problems? They haven't been with him for that long," Mallory pointed out.
Dick shrugged. "Same kind of stuff that made me leave. Anyway, she decided to freelance for a while. She didn't mean to get discovered this soon, but at least she got a good name out of it."
Mallory smiled a little. "She's not a bird anymore," she said.
"She still is," Dick said, "she's just not the kind of bird that we are."
Zatanna came out of her room then and tossed a bag on one of the chairs. "You need to go get your stuff together, Mal," she said.
Mallory nodded and went to her room, throwing in an extra suit and some essentials like her toothbrush and hairbrush, and she was ready. She made a quick stop at the kitchen to grab some shelf stable food, and when Zatanna looked at her questioningly, she said, "who knows what they eat in space. I'm not taking any chances." Zatanna nodded and tossed some snacks in her pack as well, along with some for Raquel, who was coming out of her room then.
"All right, we have to get back. We'll be back in a few days," Zatanna said, giving Dick a hug from behind.
"Yeah, have fun with the aliens," he replied. Raquel told him bye and followed the magician to the tube, and Mallory ruffled her former teammate's hair as she passed. "Tell Peter where I am, will you?" she asked. "Sure, I'll tell him you said bye," he replied. Mallory nodded and went to the tube to be scanned.
Back at the watchtower, the group was still waiting on Captain Marvel and Blue Beetle, so Mallory took the opportunity to interrupt Hal and Nate's conversation to ask, "so, are you gonna tell us more about this mission, or are we just gonna go in blind? 'Cause I'm fine either way."
The others looked at the Lantern, and he shrugged. "Ok, fine. The Guardians didn't think I should tell you everything, but I guess you deserve to know. The universe is facing a threat greater than we've ever faced before, and in order for us to defeat it, we're going to need all of the Corps to come together." He smiled a little and added, "trouble is, we don't all get along so good."
The Leaguers looked at each other. "What is this threat? Can the League be of any help?" Icon asked.
Hal tilted his head. "Maybe- as a last defense. But it shouldn't come to that, not if the peace summit is successful."
"And the threat?" Zatanna asked.
"They're called Black Lanterns. They aren't, uh, you know what, it's complicated. The Guardians can explain it better, once we get to the meeting ship."
The others had arrived while Hal was explaining, so the group now started to the loading bay, where Hal created a space ship construct and opened the hold doors for them to board. Mallory, Zatanna, and Raquel found seats next to each other, their excitement showing as they got ready to take off.
"Oh, you'll need these," Hal said, tossing Icon a box full of comms.
"We already have comms," the man said, taking one out and inspecting it.
"Not like those. Those are universal translators. They translate any language, human or alien, into whatever your native language is. They're pretty useful, considering no one there is going to speak the same language."
"You don't need one?" Blue Beetle asked.
"Nah, all Lantern rings have built-in translators, along with built-in life support."
"Fascinating," Ted muttered, his eyes glued to Hal's ring as the Lantern handled the controls.
"How long will it take us to get there?" Mallory asked.
"A couple of hours. Hope you brought something to do, cause the first person who asks if we're there yet is gonna get stationed with the Orange Lantern Corp when we get to the ship," he said, a small smile on his face as he concentrated on the open space in front of the ship.
The passengers looked at each other in confusion, but they didn't say anything, and Mallory and the girls leaned closer together to talk , their eyes on the see-through walls of the construct as they saw, for the first time, the wonders of space.
"All right, here we are," Hal announced four hours later as they approached a ship in the orbit of a planet that didn't seem like it could support life.
"It's not very big," Captain Atom mentioned.
Hal shrugged. "It doesn't have to be. We're trying to get the groups together, not give them places to run to." The passengers watched as he expertly sidled his construct up to a door and stretched a tube from the plane to the ship. He turned in his seat and said, "all ashore that's going ashore. Oh, and that reminds me, since Captain Marvel lost the battle of patience, he'll be standing by the Orange Lantern Corps."
The girls chuckled, and Billy crossed his arms. "Fine," he said, "it can't be that bad."
Hal chuckled. "Keep telling yourself that," he said.
The group boarded the ship, and the plane disappeared behind them. They were met by a group of short, blue old men floating in the air, their hands hidden in the sleeves of their robes.
"You made good time, Hal Jordan," one of them said.
"They didn't need much persuasion. I hope we aren't the last ones here," Hal replied.
Another of the little men shook his head. "No, happily, you are the first to arrive," he said.
The men looked past him to the Leaguers, and Hal cleared his throat. "Oh, right, introductions. Guys, these are the Guardians, they run the Green Lantern Corps. Guardians, this is Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Zatanna, Inferno, Rocket, and Icon. They volunteered to help chaperone the peace summit."
"Simple names, I see. Nothing so complex as John Stewart," one of the Guardians said.
Mallory tilted her head, but before she could decide if she should ask or not, they felt a slight vibration go through the ship, and the Guardians turned and went back down the hallway.
"What's going on?" Captain Atom asked.
"Oh, nothing, someone else just arrived. What we felt was them hooking up to the loading door," Hal explained. He led them down the hallway and into another one, until they caught up with the Guardians where they were gathered around a door that was just sliding open. A large, pink man in a Green Lantern suit and a pig-like face was revealed, and he stepped into the ship with heavy steps, a smile crossing his face. "Hey, Jordan! I thought I'd beat you here!" he said, his voice deep and rough.
Hal grinned and levitated over to meet him. "Good luck with that. Even with a detour and extra passengers, I'm still the fastest pilot around, and you know it," he said, grinning. They shook hands, and Hal turned to the Leaguers, leading the newcomer over. "Guys, this is Killowog. He was one of the ones that trained me when I first joined the Corps, and he's never let me forget that," he said, and he introduced the group to the other Green Lantern.
They moved to the inner ship, and Mallory smiled as Killowog told them stories of him pulling Hal, or John, out of the jaws of death on more than one occasion.
"What about Guy Gardener? He ever need saving out here?" Rocket asked.
Killowog laughed and shook his head, at which Hal blanched and hastily explained another half a dozen examples of the Earth Lantern's failings.
"Wow," Captain Marvel said sarcastically, "these give me so much more confidence in our fellow heroes."
Mallory smirked, and when Hal turned a playful glare on her, she wiped the smile off her face, but her eyes were dancing with amusement. Flash was right. She did like Killowog. The lantern was currently raiding the galley of the ship for some food, and he pulled out a couple of cans and some glasses.
"Let's have a drink together, eh? Start things off right," he said.
The group sat at a table, and the pig man poured the contents of the cans into enough beer mugs for all of them, then used his ring to pass them out. "Drink up," he said. Mallory took the cup and looked into it to see the green, pungent-smelling liquid frothy on top. She looked up and saw Hal, Killowog, and Icon drinking, and was about to force herself to try it when something moved in the cup. She fought back vomit and pushed the thing away from her. Killowog looked up from his glass.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked.
Mallory looked to the side to see that Zatanna, Raquel, Ted, and Billy had all put the glasses down, untouched. "Uh, we don't drink," she said.
"Oh, don't worry about that, Inferno," Hal, ever helpful, said with a smile. "It's not alcohol. Go ahead, drink up."
Mallory glared at him subtly, looked in the glass again, and immediately felt the bile rising again. She forced it back a second time and shook her head. "You know what, I just remembered I brought some soda with me. But you knock yourself out," she said, sliding the cup in his direction. Hal sipped his own, still fighting a laugh.
Killowog pulled the deserted cup to him and started chugging the contents. "No sense in letting it go to waste," he muttered.
Mallory smiled, and her companions eyed her jealousy, then Zatanna muttered a spell and took a sip, smiling with satisfaction. Mallory leaned over and saw that the magician had changed the strange drink to sweet tea. "Lucky," Rocket muttered from the magician's other side. Zatanna muttered another spell, and Rocket took a sip, finding that her drink, too, had been changed.
"Well, come on, boys. That stuff ain't gonna drink itself," Killowog said, looking at Blue Beetle and Captain Marvel.
They lifted the drinks and were about to try them when Hal helpfully said, "Well, technically, they can." Killowog laughed, and the boys dropped the drinks. They were saved from any more pressure by several vibrations going through the ship.
"More arrivals," Hal said, his face at once becoming serious.
"Is that a problem?" Beetle asked.
"Could be," Killowog replied, chugging the rest of his drink before getting up with Hal to go meet the new arrivals.
The Leaguers followed closely, preparing for the worst as they went. The Guardians were splitting down two hallways, and the group of heroes stayed together as they followed half of the Guardians down the closest one. The doors were sliding open to reveal two people, one was a good-looking young man about Mallory and Zatanna's age, the other was a skinny thing with white skin and a sort of tail on his head. Whoever they were, Hal and Kilowog sure knew them. They broke into grins as soon as they saw them and doubled their speed to meet them.
"Hey, Razer! Moonface!" Killowog said, crushing them both in a hug when he got to them.
"It is good to see you, too, my friend," the skinny, white man said. The younger one looked past Killowog and smiled when he saw Hal.
"Hal Jordan or Earth, it is good to see you," he said, extending his hand.
Hal batted it away and pulled him in a quick hug. "You too, kid. You look good."
Razer smiled at that, and Hal brought the two over to meet the Leaguers. "This is Razer," Hal said, putting a hand on the younger one's shoulder, "and that's Saint Walker. They're old friends."
Mallory and Zatanna were at the front of the group, and Mallory felt the magician nudge her forward a little. She refrained from rolling her eyes at her friend's lack of subtlety and extended her hand.
"Inferno, thank you for being here," Razer said, accepting her hand by clasping forearms with her. She nodded.
"All right, let's go see who else is here," Hal said, putting one hand on Razer's shoulder and the other on Mallory's as he led the group back down the hallway.
They went to a big, empty room and saw two more people in pink suits that looked similar to Star Saphire's costume talking to the Guardians. The women were introduced as Aga'po and Miri Riam, but they didn't talk very much. Before Hal could introduce his group, two more women were suddenly in the middle of the room in purple suits.
"Oh, and those are the Indigo Lanterns, they can teleport," Hal explained to his confused colleagues. "That's Indigo 1 and Iroque. They don't come out much, but we were able to convince them to come to the peace summit."
Razer scoffed at Mallory's side and muttered, "as if he had anything to do with it."
Mallory smiled. "I take it you're the one who managed that?" she asked.
He looked at her like he was surprised he'd said it out loud. "Uh, yes, that was one of my duties. The Blues were in charge of gathering all of the Corps to meet. Not as easy a thing as it might seem."
"Why the Blues?" Mallory asked.
Razer shrugged. "Probably because we don't give up easily. We stand for hope. Well, I guess the Greens wouldn't have given up, either, but their methods might have been a little less- nice."
"Do all of the colors stand for something?" Mallory asked. They settled down on some chairs, Zatanna completing the small circle they'd made.
"Yes. I guess you know that the Greens stand for will. The Blues stand for hope, the Indigo for compassion, the Violets for love, Orange for greed, Yellow for fear, and Red stands for rage. Each corps has their own lantern, and rings, and their own oath."
"And what about the Black Lanterns?" Zatanna asked.
Razer looked at her sharply. "What do you know of the Black Lanterns?" he snapped.
The girls exchanged a surprised look. "Nothing, really. Hal told us that they were about to be a threat to the universe. He said the Guardians would explain it when we got here, but they haven't said anything yet," Zatanna explained carefully.
The young man across from them took a calming breath. "Well, the Black Lanterns, they are a little different. They are led by a being called Nekron, and the rings are given to beings who have been killed."
Mallory looked at Zatanna, then back at Razer. "Wait, are you saying that this Nekron has an army of zombies?" she asked.
Razer nodded. "He is building an army of undead with which to conquer the universe. That is why the Guardians decided to call this peace summit. If they succeed in getting out of their sector of imprisonment, they will devastate the galaxy, one planet after the other, until there is nothing left but abandoned planets and a trail of death."
His sentence was punctuated by a shudder going through the ship, and the girls jumped.
"It is just another group arriving," he said, his voice calmer than it had been. Zatanna chuckled and they watched the doorway. A moment later, two people in yellow suits came in. Shock went through Mallory and she jumped to her feet as she recognized Sinestro as one of the members.
Razer tilted his head. "What is it?" he asked.
"That's- you don't know who that is?" she asked, dumbfounded. But before their new acquaintance could answer, Hal and Kilowog went over to the Yellows, and Hal clasped arms with Sinestro, and they had a few words that didn't seem threatening. Mallory sat back down, but she kept a wary eye on the villain.
"The Yellows are nothing compared to the Reds. They're the ones we'll need to be watching, when they get here. Or, I guess I should say 'if'. They don't usually work well with others."
The ship shuddered again, and Mallory noticed Razer's face harden as he trained his eyes on the door, waiting for the next group to come in. A moment later, a little, spider-like creature in an orange suit came running in, clutching a box to his chest and eying everyone warily. Razer rolled his eyes with disgust.
"Who's that?" Zatanna asked.
"His name is Larfleeze. He's the Orange Lantern Corps."
"He's the only one in it?" Mallory asked, surprised.
Razer nodded. "I told you, the Orange Lanterns are greed. Each corps seeks out individuals that already have good control over the desired emotion, and then their ring amplifies that emotion. Well, for the Oranges, that means that their greed is amplified, until it consumes them. They fought each other to the death, and he was the last one standing."
Mallory felt a pit in her stomach at the thought of being controlled by a ring.
"Who was that who came in with Sinestro?" Zatanna asked, looking over to where the well-known villain was standing with a young woman next to him.
Razer looked at the Yellows with some surprise. "That's Soranik Natu, Sinestro's offspring," he said.
"He has a kid?!" Mallory and Zatanna said at the same time.
"Yes, he does. I'm surprised he would bring her to this, though, instead of some of his stronger members, like Arkillo or Amon Sur. Oh, but of course you do not know who they are, my apologies."
They felt one more tremor go through the ship, and this time, Razer tensed in his seat, his gaze locked on the door. It wasn't just him. Everyone in the room, even the Leaguers, had frozen and were looking at the door, the tension in the room building as they waited.
A moment later, a huge man stepped into the room, ducking to get past the doorway, and a woman with wings that looked like they'd been burned before. They looked around the room, their faces frozen in terrifying glares. Mallory felt a shiver go up her spine, and the three of them stood in unison, as did everyone else in the room. The Guardians went over to them and they had a few words, then they went to the other people in the room, Icon and Captain Atom and Hal. The two Reds did another sweep of the room, and the bigger man honed in on the small group in the corner. Mallory forced herself not to shrink back as they approached. She could feel her fellow Leaguers watching closely, but she didn't take her eyes off the two Reds as they came closer, expecting something to happen. They went right past her, though, and stood in front of Razer.
"Razer," the woman sneered.
"Bleez," Razer said stiffly, his hands clenched into fists, his teeth grinding.
"You must be simple, to dare to show your face here, knowing that the great Atrocitus would be here," Bleez said, leaning closer still.
Razer didn't even look at Atrocitus, but he said, "no, I'm just over him. I am not afraid to show myself anywhere in this galaxy." Now, he did look at the man as he said, "I learned that from you. You might live to regret it."
They looked like they were going to start something right there, but the Guardians were there, gently directing them to their chairs. When they had passed, Razer shut his eyes for a second, a method that Mallory recognized well as him trying to get control of his anger. He let out a breath and opened his eyes, but his fists stayed clenched.
"Who were they?" Zatanna asked.
"The larger one was Atrocitus, the founder of the Red Lanterns, and the other was Bleez, his right hand," he said.
"They seemed to know you pretty well," Mallory said carefully.
Razer sighed, his fists finally going limp. "They should," he said, "I used to be one of them."
The girls' eyebrows shot up at the admission, and he met their eyes, regret lining them.
"Well, congratulations," Mallory said, smiling. "I know from experience how hard it is to get control of your anger. You must be a pretty fantastic Lantern." He smiled a little.
The Guardians floated to the middle of the room, and one of them said, "All right, Lanterns, if you will take your seats, we will begin."