L-Anne-Terns

by Michael Ravencroft

The multiverse is vast and full of possibilities. When the light of the Emotional Spectrum shines upon the universe, it can alter many destinies. Come, and let us see how these lights change the destiny of Anne Boonchuy, and the different universes she resides in.

4. Will: The Emerald Knight

Life was returning to something close to normal for Anne and her friends. They had endured so much in half a year. Getting whisked away to Amphibia, battling the forces of an ancient hive mind bent on multiversal domination, fighting each other, and in Anne's case, dying and getting resurrected by a god. That was probably still something she was never going to get over, especially when said multiversal god just casually dropped a bombshell on her about eventually dying in seventy-eight years. Anne knew all things die at some point, but the majority of them never knew the exact number of years they had left. Although when she did the math, she would be ninety-one by that point.

I mean, living to be ninety-one isn't exactly all that bad I guess? Still, having an exact number is still unsettling.

It did give Anne thoughts about what it meant for her going forward. The Guardian said that she would live for that long, but did that mean she was destined to never die until that time? If she blindly walked into oncoming traffic, would she be alright? Did the Guardian essentially give her super plot armor? Then again, the Guardian never said that she was unable to be get severely hurt, just that she would live to be ninety-one. A lot could happen between now and then. She could lose a leg, an arm, she could be paralyzed, anything.

They said I would live for seventy-eight years, not that I would be unable to get hurt.

Thankfully, Anne was in no rush to test her supposed invulnerability. Instead, she decided to just proceed with the same caution she had always had. However, she never told her parents this, nor did she tell Sasha and Marcy. But other than that, things were going well. Mr. X and the United States government somehow managed to cover up the entire invasion, Anne wasn't going to begin figuring out what kind of black magic they called on to make that happen, but in a way it was probably for the better. The people of Earth came very close to being wiped out from existence, and the idea of an entire multiverse being out there was a lot to take in, and Anne had no doubts that people wouldn't exactly take too kindly to that.

Although, when school was able to get started again, despite the cover up, it didn't necessarily mean everyone just forgot about what Anne did during the invasion. Her face was broadcast all over the news when she went Calamity mode and fought Andrias in his mech suit. Maggie, for one, had stopped bullying her and started to respect Anne. A lot of the kids and teachers at school felt the same way. Anne didn't really think she deserved that kind of praise, yes she fought in the invasion to save her loved ones both here and in Amphibia, but she was still just a girl.

Currently, Anne and Sasha were on the roof the school, Marcy had a session with her therapist today, and because of that, was not at school. The two girls still worried about Marcy, she had suffered a lot. Getting stabbed and nearly dying, being manipulated, and turned into a meat puppet by the Core, it was a lot for a girl like her. All three of them were receiving counseling for what happened, government issued counselors since they wanted to keep this stuff hush-hush.

As the two girls laid side-by-side and stared up into the sky, basking in the warm rays of the sun, Sasha spoke up.

"I think I want to be a therapist when I get older," Sasha remarked.

Anne opened her eyes and glanced to her left.

"That was out of the blue. What makes you say that?" Anne asked.

"I mean, the people X got for us are good, but let's face it, there isn't exactly a therapist out there that deals with this kind of stuff. I mean, where do you even find a good therapist for kids who have been isekai'd?"

"Heh, 'isekai'd'? You've been watching those anime recommendations from Mar-Mar?"

Sasha blushed and twiddled her thumbs as she answered, "I may or may not have been watching a few…before the recommendations…"

"Now I know why you mentioned 'cool anime powers' when we talked to Mother Olm," Anne chuckled.

"I mean, it's a standard thing, right? You get transported to another world, have to fight off some insanely powerful evil thing, and you get equally insane powers to fight it with. Anyway, yeah, I want to be therapist, plus…" Sasha held up her right hand to the air as she sighed. "Maybe I can help the next boy or girl from becoming how I was."

Anne turned to her side and looked at her best friend with worry.

"Sash, you need to stop. You managed to change; we all have. And Marce and I forgive you," said Anne.

"I know…it's just when I take a moment to look back on all the things I pushed you and Marcy into, I feel like such a bitch," Sasha remarked. "Especially for what I almost did at Toad Tower, only now do I think back on it and realize that if I went through with it, Polly and Sprig would've lost the last close relative they had. I would've made them orphans…"

Anne sighed as she moved closer and hugged Sasha.

"We can't change the past, but we can move forward, and learn from those mistakes. So, this go around, no throwing people to carnivorous plants, okay?" Anne joked.

Sasha chuckled as she gave a light shove and hugged Anne tighter.

"Shut up, Boonchuy."

Anne and Sasha were blushing, but due to the position of Anne's head, Sasha couldn't see it. A lot of things had changed between the three of them, and for the better. But there was something else that they weren't sure of. Everything they had gone through had brought them much closer together, strengthened and repaired their friendship, making it much healthier than it was before. But along the way, Anne, Sasha, and Marcy felt a shift. Even now, as Anne held onto Sasha, and Sasha held onto Anne, this embrace felt as if it had taken on a different context to it. Yet, neither of them felt uncomfortable with it. It almost felt natural.

"Marcy's going to leave soon…" Sasha reminded.

"I know…This whole thing started because she was going to be moved away. I guess we all thought that that would change after the invasion," Anne said.

"I'm not going to lie, I had thought about asking you and Mar-Mar if you want to run away," Sasha admitted.

Anne giggled at the notion.

"And go where? We wouldn't get too far."

"Yeah, but at least we'd be together a little longer."

"True."

Anne sighed; in truth she probably would've said yes to running away with them. They had been through so much together, their bond was even stronger than it was before, but at the same time, Anne knew that this separation was probably for the best. The whole reason why they all got sent to Amphibia was because Marcy was unable to cope with the idea of being separated from Anne and Sasha. Even though the use of the Calamity Box was a farfetched wish of hers, she didn't think it would work and send them to another world, but the fact of the matter was that it did, and a lot of things happened because of Marcy's decision.

"I get it, Sash, but I think we made Marcy rely on us too much. We never let her spread her wings as much as she did in Amphibia, and as much as we want to stay together. I think it's something she needs, as much as we do. Trust me, somedays I still struggle with the urge to protect her, even though I consciously know Marcy can handle herself now," said Anne.

"Our little nerd is growing up before our eyes, huh?" Sasha remarked.

"Yeah."

Anne released Sasha and the two girls sat up.

"Do you ever miss it? You know, going all Dragon Claw Z?" Sasha inquired.

"Eh? A little, being able to fly was kinda cool. But not that much really," Anne answered.

"Yeah, those powers were a lot to handle. Seriously, it wiped me and Marcy out when we first used them. And the fact you've transformed more than once and were able to do all that, respect."

Anne smirked and rolled her eyes.

"C'mon, let's head back in, the free period's almost over."

The two girls got up and dusted their skirts off as they headed back down. Honestly, Anne didn't really care too much about her powers. Of course, it was fun and all, but like the old saying goes, "with great power comes great responsibility".

"I still can't believe we're going to be graduating soon," Sasha remarked.

"I still can't believe I'm even going to be graduating," Anne stated.

"You worked your ass off to get your grades back up, Anne. And if they didn't let you graduate, I would've marched into Principal Murphy's office and demanded it."

Anne chuckled and gently bumped Sasha with her shoulder.

"Dude, please don't be like that meme."

Sasha grinned as she said, "Oh? You mean like, 'Uh, I believe my girlfriend ordered her burger without ketchup! I demand to speak to your manager!'"

The two teens laughed at the notion, but after a few seconds, both Anne and Sasha paused and blushed. Realizing the implication of what both had brought up.

"Uh, y-yeah, that, don't act like that," Anne stammered.

"N-No promises, no one disrespects my friends," Sasha declared.

Oh, man, why am I getting all worked up over a stupid meme joke?!

---

Meanwhile, Mr. X was hard at work. Covering up the biggest invasion in Earth's history was not an easy task and took all his knowhow, along with every asset the United States government had at its disposal. Thankfully, it all worked out. There were some people who agreed to keep their mouths shut about everything, but not without some bribes, and a threat here and there.

Most importantly, Mr. X managed to keep Terri's research confidential from his superiors and hired them on as a member of his team as a scientific advisor, on paper anyway. At least that way, no one would be able to start digging into the technology of portal creation. After everything Anne and the girls told him about how Amphibia became what it was in the past, how they advanced their civilization through the proliferation of resources from other worlds.

Mr. X prided himself on his work, the protection and safety of his country and its citizens. But after seeing what he saw, after years of chasing aliens and other supernatural phenomena, to see how close they all came to meeting their end, Mr. X knew that he had to widen his scope. It wasn't just America, the world needed protection from such forces. And from those who would use such technology to try and do what the ancient Amphibians did. The man was not naïve enough to believe any government, let alone his own, wouldn't use the portal technology to do the exact same thing of invading other worlds.

While Mr. X believed it could do some good, his line of work had allowed him to see the various ugly sides of humanity, and this kind of power would either unite the people of Earth to invade other worlds for the things they lacked or cause a world war about who should claim the right to have sole ownership of it.

"If there's one thing I know for sure. If we did use this tech to go to other worlds, it'd be only a matter of time before we found one world we seriously do not want to piss off," said Mr. X as he looked over his notes.

Currently, Jenny, Mr. X, and Terri were heading to the location of a certain person that was on their radar for portal technology.

"I'd like to say I can't believe she's this persistent but given that she was about to dissect three sapient frog people just for fame and recognition, I shouldn't be surprised," said Terri.

"To be fair, so was I. Not the fame and recognition part," Mr. X remarked. "That being said, we've repeatedly told Dr. Frakes to refrain from speaking out about her portal technology, but it seems she doesn't know when to listen," said Mr. X with a slight amount of remorse.

Jenny nodded her head as she drove the van.

"So, what's our angle? We're just going to talk to her and tell her stop?" Terri asked.

"Mmm-hmm, something like that," Mr. X answered.

"We're just going to talk to her, right?" Terri asked again.

"Terri, sweetie, the less you know, the better. I just need you here in case Frakes made another portal machine."

"You want me to dismantle it safely then," Terri concluded.

"Bingo."

Jenny made a motion with her hand, indicating that they were getting close to the destination.

"Look alive, people. Game time."

Jenny parked their van outside of a warehouse. It reminded Terri of the same one that they used when they first created a portal to get Anne and the Plantars back to Amphibia. Honestly, Terri had no idea why Dr. Frakes was even bothering to continue the portal research. Mr. X had made sure to tamp down any research projects that were looking into it and making Terri the sole researcher in the field for the time being. And considering that they had managed to create a working portal out of a shabby warehouse, it spoke volumes to how intelligent they are.

From what Terri could tell, the warehouse wasn't particularly big, which was odd considering the one that Terri used was a lot bigger. But then again, they weren't hiding from the government at the time, and no one was aware of Terri's work either, unlike Dr. Frakes. So, this might have been all the not-so-good doctor could get so that she could go unnoticed.

Mr. X and Jenny took the lead, with Terri taking up the rear. The enby couldn't help but notice how they were both armed, and it made them nervous. Terri really hoped that this wasn't going to become a worst-case scenario. The three of them walked up to the metal door, and once there, Mr. X knocked three times against it.

"Oh, Dr. Frakes, it's your friendly neighborhood FBI Special Agents. We'd like to have a word with you." Mr. X waited for a response but heard nothing. "Now, Dr. Frakes, this can be done the easy way, or the hard way. The choice is yours, hon."

Mr. X, Jenny, and Terri listened carefully, trying to hear any movement that might've been happening inside. But all was quiet. Which was strange as Dr. Frakes was not a quiet person.

Deciding that they gave Dr. Frakes enough time, Mr. X and Jenny unholstered their guns, which to Terri's relief were just high-tech stun guns. Mr. X nodded to Jenny, and Jenny nodded back. The Special Agent pointed his wristwatch at the hinges and shot a laser beam at them, the beam hit the first hinge and began heating it up rapidly to the point of it turning red hot. A moment later, the first hinge melted. Mr. X pointed his watch at the second hinge and melted that one off as well. Lastly, he shot it at the lock and melted it away as well.

Mr. X and Jenny took a step back, and together, they kicked the door at the same time. Their combined kick managed to make the door hit the floor with a loud, metallic "CLANG". The two FBI Special Agents quickly pointed their guns at the entrance, whipping out their flashlights as they checked the corners before making full entry. Terri hugged the right wall outside, knowing that it was better if they waited for the trained professionals to make sure the inside was safe.

Mr. X and Jenny scanned the interior, carefully waving their flashlight beams over everything, looking for the slightest hint of movement, or something out of the ordinary. So far, nothing stood out. Mr. X nodded to Jenny, and the two split up. Mr. X went left while Jenny moved to the right. They moved in a wide circle, practically hugging the walls as they made their way around while moving their flashlights between the center of the room and where they were going. For right now, they looked for a light switch, as it stood they were at a disadvantage in the dark. Unless Dr. Frakes suddenly found a way to develop night vision then they were in trouble to begin with.

Jenny moved her light back to the wall ahead of her and found the light switch. She moved closer and closer to it, taking great care as to not accidentally trip any possible boobytraps. Once she was at the large switch, Jenny pushed it up. Immediately after, the lights in the warehouse kicked on, fully illuminating the inside. From what they could see, Dr. Frakes had been working on a portal device as the large machine was in the center of the room. There were wooden tables set up with various electronic equipment hooked up to the portal machine. Along with it were some crates that were opened, cardboard boxes, and multiple power generators.

From what Mr. X and Jenny could tell, there was no sign of Dr. Frakes. Still, they couldn't be too safe. Mr. X and Jenny moved closer to the center, checking behind every crate and generator, but once they reached the portal generator, they concluded that Dr. Frakes was indeed not there.

"Okay, Terri, coast is clear," Mr. X called out.

Terri poked their head through the doorway and asked, "You sure?"

"Positive, sweetie. And it looks like your old boss has been busy."

Terri entered the facility and sighed in frustration that their old boss indeed made another portal generator. The enby made their way deeper into the warehouse and inspected the machine.

"Looks like she was close to being finished. Without the normal funding she was receiving, she was probably putting this together slowly over the past few months," Terri deduced.

"Well, either we just missed her, or she hasn't been here for long minute. Let's check her computers, maybe there's something there we can use," Mr. X suggested.

Jenny and Terri moved to the tables where the numerous laptops were spread out. They split up the work and turned on each of the laptops one at time. Once all of them were booted up, Jenny used her impressive computer skills to bypass the security passwords and gained access to the laptops. Afterwards, Terri and Jenny started combing through the laptops for any information.

"From what I'm gathering here, Dr. Frakes believes she can get the portal up and running sooner rather than later," Terri informed.

"How's that possible? I thought only an energy source comparable to the music box was strong enough for that. The last we calculated the amount of energy needed to open the portal, it'd take the entire world's power grid, times a million to open it," Mr. X remarked.

Terri typed away at the computer, combing over the notes to see if there was any hint as to what the power source could be.

"What…?" Terri looked closer at the notes and balked. "Oh, no. This isn't good."

"What is it?"

"I think Dr. Frakes just confirmed a theory I had," Terri said.

Mr. X raised his eyebrow and questioned, "What theory exactly?"

"That all this recent traveling between worlds might've weakened the dimensional barriers between our universe and others."

"Excuse me?"

"Look." Terri brought up Dr. Frakes notes which included diagrams. "The music box puts out a lot of energy, and all that energy is essentially punching holes through the dimensional barriers that separate every world from each other. Ours, Amphibia's, any other one out there. I believe that there are times when the dimensional barriers are weak, allowing for connections to be made to other universes. This might be why we have so many myths and legends about mythical creatures and beings that seem otherworldly. Maybe because they were originally from other worlds and were able to cross over into ours."

Mr. X thought about it for a moment. It did make some sense. Each culture had its own special holidays when they believed beings from other worlds could cross over into this world, like Halloween or Dia De Los Muertos. If this was true, then it would seem that this was a natural thing that could happen.

"So, if it's natural, why does concern you?" Mr. X asked.

"Because the repeated use of the box's power has possibly weakened our barriers. And if what she's written here is correct, then it will take less energy to punch a hole into other dimensions. Conversely, it would make it easier for other beings to cross into our universe," Terri explained. "Although, Dr. Frakes is more interested in the former part of this analysis. Still, it'll require a substantial amount of power. I don't know where she thinks she can get that kind of power from."

"Ahem."

Terri and Mr. X looked at Jenny. She motioned towards the computer and brought up some files. Mr. X looked them over and furrowed his brow with concern.

"Looks our dear Dr. Frakes has been receiving some backing from an anonymous sponsor. And they're…what? Shipping her an experimental canister of dark matter?"

"WHAT?!" Terri immediately shoved Mr. X and Jenny out of the way as they looked over the missive and was shocked to realize that it was correct. "This is not good!"

"How bad is this?"

"Very bad. Dark matter energy is basically the unseen energy of our universe, it's always there, in the background of everything that exists. To actually harness that kind of energy…if my theory holds true about the weakened dimensional barriers, and if this person's claim to having created a dark matter battery, then Dr. Frakes could easily punch a hole into another dimension. The big problem being…"

"Without the musical notes to connect to a specific world, she could potentially open a portal to a dangerous dimension," Mr. X stated. "Jenners, see if there's anything on here about any other locations!"

Jenny started typing away, but that's when something strange happened. The laptops' screens all went black at the same time. A minute later, all of them now had Dr. Frakes's face on them.

{Hello whoever you are! If you're seeing this, it means you tried to hack my computers to try and learn more about my work. Well…YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT! I know it's you government goons, trying to silence me, trying to give all the credit to that little twit, Terri! She only knows what she knows because she learned it from me!}

"I'm nonbinary you bitch," Terri corrected.

{Unfortunately, I am no longer here. And do you know why? Because this place is a decoy!}

"WHAT?!" Terri and Mr. X exclaimed.

{AH-HA! Fooled you! I am far away at another location, and soon my machine will be complete! A bigger, better, more powerful version than Terri's ever will be! And just in case that meddlesome Terri and Mr. X are here, I have a little present for you. It should be going off in Five, four…}

"RUN!" Mr. X yelled.

Terri, Jenny, and Mr. X bolted for the front door, running at full speed. They could hear Dr. Frakes's voice still counting down, with the recording reaching "one" just as all three of them made it outside. That's when the entire building blew up. A great explosion ripped apart the building, sending bricks, mortar, and glass flying in different directions and sent up a huge cloud of smoke and dust. Thankfully, the trio managed to get behind the van just in time. All three began coughing from the amount of dust in the air, thankfully the van was Mr. X's customized version, made to withstand such blasts.

"Everyone alright?" Mr. X asked.

"I'm – *cough* – alright," Terri answered.

Jenny gave a thumbs up.

"Ugh, let's put in a call, Jenners. One to clean up this mess, and another to start a search for Dr. Frakes. She's officially on the FBI's most wanted list now."

---

(2 Months Later…)

The day had finally come, as bitter was it was. Anne and Sasha had to say goodbye to their best friend, at least goodbye for now. Marcy's father was given a promotion and had to move clear across the country, despite everything that happened, the invasion, the body takeover, none of it delayed what was inevitable, even if Marcy hoped it would. Anne and Sasha decided to meet Marcy at LAX, with Mr. Boonchuy driving them to the airport. Once there, they waited and greeted Marcy. They knew they couldn't follow her too far in, but they wanted to follow as long as they could, at least until they had to finally say goodbye. Marcy's parents went on ahead, deciding to give their daughter some time alone with her friends, despite their reservations about them, they understood that Anne and Sasha were important to their daughter. So, they allowed them this time. As they slowly walked together, the trio reminisced about their last few months in school, especially Anne's cramming sessions.

"Ugh, that's the last and only time I will ever let my grades slip down that far," Anne decided.

"C'mon, Anna-banana, it wasn't that bad," Marcy assured her.

"Dude, I almost didn't graduate," Anne retorted.

"You're lucky Principal Murphy managed to swing all that extra credit work," said Sasha as she nudged Anne with her elbow. "Pretty sure she probably bent a few school rules too for the hero of LA."

"Stop, I'm not a hero," said Anne with a blush.

Marcy snorted as she gave Anne skeptical look.

"Anne, you saved Amphibia and Earth from getting taken over by the Core. You fought Andrias one-on-one for the survival of the human race, and you've saved my life more times than I can count," Marcy stated. "I'd say you're a hero."

"Well, it's not like I set out to be one."

Sasha chuckled and remarked, "True, but you're still our hero. Even if the government's keeping it on the down low."

Anne groaned, she didn't particularly like being called a "hero". Just like she said to Hop Pop back in Amphibia.

"Being a hero is not about fame or glory, it's about doing the right thing. And that's all I did. Besides, you two are heroes too," Anne corrected. "Sasha, you raised the rebellion in Wartwood when me and Plantars were stuck on Earth. Marcy, you could've accepted the fantasy world the Core offered you, but you rejected it. And don't forget, we fought the Core together."

Sasha and Marcy knew Anne made some good points, but between the two girls, they were fully aware that there was only one hero among them, especially since Anne made the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone. If that isn't worthy of being called a "hero", then they didn't know what was.

"I really am going to miss you two," said Marcy with a sad tone.

"Same," Sasha and Anne replied.

"In retrospect, when I look back on that day when I got us all trapped in Amphibia, I completely overreacted," Marcy noted. "Frog, why did I panic so badly like that? I put us through all of that for no reason."

"I wouldn't say it was for 'no reason'," Sasha said. "Yeah, you did overreact, but if we hadn't all gone to Amphibia, I'd still the be the pushy, controlling, alpha bitch I was before."

"Sashy, don't call yourself that," Marcy scolded.

"If the shoe fits, Mar-Mar, and it did."

"Not anymore," said Anne. "But Sasha's right, if you hadn't overreacted, we wouldn't have been able to help the people of Amphibia. They would've been living under King Andrias's rule, divided, instead of being united and working together. And you've become a lot more aware–"

"WAH!"

Anne and Sasha watched as Marcy suddenly tripped and fell on the ground in the middle of the airport. The Thai and Caucasian teens glanced down at the floor to see what it was that Marcy had tripped over, and to no one's surprise, it was a bubblegum wrapper.

Only Mar-Mar, Anne and Sasha thought.

Marcy got up, looking confident as she proclaimed, "I'm okay!"

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy continued their walk and talk until they reached the airport security checkpoint. This was it. All three girls got into a group hug, and despite their best efforts, neither of them could help but shed tears from just how sad this moment was. Until now, they've always been a trio, ever since they were little. They've shared the ups and downs, the good and the bad, and been through so much together, but now it was time for them to say goodbye, at least for now.

"One day, I'll come back," Marcy promised.

"Marcy don't cling onto that. You need experience all you can while you're in Massachusetts, make new friends there as well," said Anne.

"Please don't isolate yourself, Marcy. We don't want you being alone," Sasha added.

"I know…I'm just scared. I guess compared to what we've been through, meeting new people should be a cakewalk. But I do promise to call and video chat with you guys, at least once a week, is that too much?" Marcy asked.

"Nah, that's great," Anne responded.

"I know we'll start to get busy with our lives…and we may lose touch at some point as we get older…"

Anne raised her head, gaining the attention of her two friends.

"It's possible, but despite all of that, even if that is what happens to us later. Not distance nor time will erase the bond we share, and that's a promise," Anne declared.

Sasha and Marcy couldn't help feeling a fresh wave of tears upon hearing Anne's somewhat cheesy, but yet very inspired words. One day, they would see each other again, until then, they just needed to –

*KA-BOOOOOOOOM!*

Suddenly, a massive explosion took place outside near the tarmac of the airport. The blast was incredibly powerful as the shockwave slammed into the airport, shattering every window from here the to the control tower. Unfortunately, the girls were near one of the observation windows, where they could clearly see the strange black, blue, and violet explosion. The shockwave blasted through LAX, knocking down everyone who was standing, and sending glass shards flying in every direction like deadly shrapnel.

Several of the shards impaled some of the people who were waiting for their flights, some had gone clean into their skulls, others embedded themselves in peoples' eyes, or body. Marcy and Sasha groaned, and then coughed, feeling like every bone in their bodies was bruised at the same time.

"You…You guys okay?" Anne asked.

"Ugh…It feels like Grime just hit me in the chest with his warhammer…ugh…other than that I'll live," said Sasha.

"Same here, Anne are you…*cough*…okay?" Marcy then noticed that Anne was lying on top of them. She vaguely recalled, when the explosion happened, that Anne had held onto them. "Anne…did you use your body to shield us?"

"Kind of, yeah…*cough*…for all the good it did," Anne remarked as she managed to get off them and onto her knees.

"Ugh, what the hell was that? Jeez, after that whole invasion, terrorists bomb LAX. Bullshit," Sasha complained.

Anne managed to turn her head around, she stared out through the now broken windows, and that's when she saw it. There was a huge, swirling mass of energy outside. It was circular in form, the center of the vortex was glowing a bright blue, while the outer edge of the vortex was black as night, with small hints of violet. Blue lightning arced off the outer edge of the vortex, as well as from the center of it. The vortex was huge, if Anne had to guess, it could easily fit one of the passenger airplanes easily.

"Guys…tell me if I'm wrong, but…does that look like a portal to you?" Anne asked.

Sasha and Marcy turned their gaze in the same direction as Anne, and gasped.

"Uh…do you want me to lie to you?" Sasha inquired.

"I'd like that, but I know it'd be a lie."

"That's not possible…it-it has to be something else! There's no way a portal could be created here! And Amphibia shouldn't have the means to do so either!" Marcy exclaimed. "What could've caused this?!"

---

(About five minutes earlier…)

Dr. Frakes had been on the run for two months now. Dodging the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA, but thankfully none of them had been able to capture her. Of course, they couldn't, she was a genius scientist, and therefore always one step ahead of those slow thinking fools. And, well, she did get some aid from her mysterious backers. She still did not know who they were, but guessed they were probably either a foreign government or a shady underground organization looking to use the power of her Frakes Portal Generator to accumulate resources and technology from other worlds.

Not like she cared, so long as she got the recognition she deserved for her creations, and that Terri was seen as the fraud and research stealer she was, then it was all the better. Dr. Frakes refused to get bogged down by Terri's insistent "nonbinary" pronouns. Animals in the animal kingdom can be classified as such, as far as she was concerned, Terri was biologically female, and she would refer to her as such. HR be damned.

Currently the not-so-good doctor was aboard an international flight. She managed to get on, despite her being on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Now she was onboard, riding coach. Someone of her intellect deserved first class, but given that she was still being hunted, hiding among the common masses made more sense. Somehow, her mysterious benefactors managed to set this up. At least she believed so, the airport security seemed to let her coast through all the checkpoints, never once giving her a second glance. Heck, she was certain a couple of them smirked and winked at her as if saying, "We know who you are, you have nothing to fear."

She was even more certain that this was the case considering that she was able to get her portal machine loaded onto this very plane. Her mysterious benefactor told her to board an international flight that would be leaving today, and without her having requested, there were men in black work clothes who came and dismantled her machine and loaded it into a large van before driving both her and the machine to LAX. Now the machine was loaded, and she was here in the plane.

"Those fools can't catch me, and soon I'll be known around the world," said Dr. Frakes.

Just then her cellphone rang. It was a private phone that was given to her by the mysterious benefactor. So, when it rang, she answered.

"Hello?"

{Good to hear from you Dr. Frakes. Have you made it onboard safely?}

"Yes, yes. I'm currently seated and waiting for this plane to take off," she answered.

{And the portal device?}

"They loaded without any second glances. Soon I'll be able to show the world my brilliance!" Dr. Frakes exclaimed excitedly.

{Indeed, before we get into the details. You did remember to attach the stabilizing unit for the dark matter battery, right?}

Dr. Frakes scoffed.

"Of course, I didn't forget! It was the first thing I did before your people dismantled it."

{Ah, most excellent. In that case, it's about time I filled you in on something Dr. Frakes.}

Dr. Frakes raised her eyebrow and asked, "And that would be?"

{My clients wish to see a demonstration of the portal's functionality.}

The not-so-good doctor brimmed with excitement. There were already people wanting to see her genius invention. That was fantastic, incredibly fantastic.

"That is most excellent! I'll be sure to prepare a speech right away for the demonstration of the Frakes Portal Generator!" Dr. Frakes stated.

{No, that won't be necessary. They need an immediate demonstration. As in, we're going to turn on the portal right now.}

Dr. Frakes's brow furrowed as her face tinted red with anger.

"YOU SWINE! YOU COPIED MY RESEARCH! HOW?!" Dr. Frakes yelled, causing the other passengers to look her way.

{You believed you were the smartest person in the world, hubris was your folly. While I won't deny you are brilliant, it seems your old research assistant was even brighter than you, but you served your purpose, nonetheless. FYI, that 'stabilizer' was in fact a remote activation switch/detonator.}

"DETONATOR?! YOU PUT A BOMB ON MY PORTAL GENERATOR!"

"Someone call the Air Marshall!" a passenger yelled.

{No, but it will turn your device into one. Basically, we're going to tear a hole in space right here and now. What you don't realize is that the machine was reassembled when it was placed in the cargo hold. And now, with the flick of a switch, you will be swallowed up by your masterpiece dear doctor. It was a pleasure working with you. Rejoyce in the end, your invention will change the world.}

"FUUUUCK YOU!" Dr. Frakes screamed in fury, tossing the phone, and having it smash against the far wall of the plane.

Dr. Frakes got out of her seat in a desperate attempt to get down to the cargo hold and stop the detonation. However, several male passengers tackled the woman, and pinned her to the ground.

"YOU FOOLS! LET ME GO OR WE'LL ALL DIE! THE BOMB IS GOING TO OFF ANY MINUTE! I MUST GET TO THE CARGO HOLD! I WON'T LET THEM TAKE MY INVENTION!"

No matter how much she yelled and fought, they wouldn't let her go. Just then, everyone went silent when they heard a sound that didn't seem like it came from the plane itself. It was a kind of warbling sound. Something was powering up, and it seemed to be emanating from below their feet.

"…Too late…"

---

(Present…)

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy stood there, completely awestruck that there was a huge portal out in the middle of the tarmac.

"So…anyone have Mr. X on speed dial?" Sasha asked.

"What happened?! Why's there a portal out in the middle of the airport?! Wait…oh no!" Marcy quickly took out her cellphone and called her mother. "Pick up, pick up, please pick up!"

The cellphone made a clicking sound, and that's when Marcy heard her mother's voice.

{Marcy, are you alright?!}

"We're fine! A little shaken up, but we're not hurt. What about you two?! How's Dad?!" Marcy asked.

{We weren't close to the windows when the explosion happened, but your father got knocked into a wall. I think he's fine, at least he says he is.}

"Hang on, we'll come to you!" the Taiwanese girl exclaimed.

{No! I know you're still at the security checkpoint. If Mr. Boonchuy is still there, go with Anne and Sasha, leave the airport, and go wait for us at the Boonchuy's until we–!}

"SOMETHING'S COMING OUT OF THAT THING!"

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy returned their gaze to the dark portal. Anne and Sasha took out their phones and used their cameras to zoom in on the portal to see what was coming out. And what they saw horrified them. The first row was made of lanky, bipedal creatures, with a lean muscular build. They had long arms with their four claw tipped hands resting just below their knees, with the creatures themselves standing at least six feet tall. On their arms were curved, bone white blades that had a crescent shape to them, which matched their claws, and the talons on their feet. The creatures' legs were digitigrade, like a dog or cat's legs, and behind them was a tail that was covered in bone white exoskeletal armor that whipped back and forth and had an arrowhead tip. Their heads were angular and sharp, almost like a pyramid. On each side of their heads, they had six eyes that glowed a bright turquoise color. Their skin was a dark navy-blue, which made their white claws, blades, teeth, and glowing eyes stand out much more.

Unfortunately, that was just the first line. The second line was comprised of much bigger monsters. They stood about nine feet tall, although they could've been as tall as eleven feet. This was mostly because these creatures walked in a hunched position, like a gorilla. These bigger creatures were more muscular than their shorter counterparts. While their legs were shorter, they were still well muscled, and no doubt, with the additional arm strength, could still boast great speed. Their knuckles, forearms, and tops of their hands were coated in a thick layer of exoskeletal armor. Their heads were oval shaped, rows of sharp white teeth that protruded from their upper and lower lips, and just like their smaller counterparts, they too had dark navy-blue skin, and six, glowing turquoise eyes.

From what the girls could see, there were at least twenty of the smaller creatures, and ten of the big ones, to start. As soon as that first group moved away from the portal, more started to come out of it. The Bladed creatures sniffed the air, along with the Bruisers, and after taking a few quick whiffs of the air, the Blade creatures released a horrible shriek, while the Bruisers released loud roars. Their combined cries were carried on the winds, all the way to the main hub of LAX, causing everyone to scream their heads off in sheer terror.

This must've been their battle cry as the creatures ran towards LAX. Their speed was unreal, the Bladed creatures were the faster of the two groups, running at speeds the allowed them to cross several feet in just a few short seconds. It didn't take a genius to figure out that those monsters would swarm LAX in a couple of minutes, and that was being generous. The Bruisers, who lagged behind them, jumped into the air and landed atop some of the taxying planes. Their incredible weight caused them to make huge dents in the planes, and with their muscular arms, they smashed through the hull of the plane. It was like watching someone take a can opener to the planes as the creatures peeled sheets of metal away, getting right inside of the plane itself.

From there, blood could be seen splattering the windows as the monster crushed and smashed through every passenger that was inside. With nowhere to run, and cramped together, the people were sitting ducks. Other planes tried to takeoff to try and get away from the carnage, but the monsters seemed to sense this and jumped straight into the air again, this time some of the Bruisers crashed landed right into the cockpits, killing the planes' pilots and continuing their rampage.

The smaller creatures began to jump and crawl over the building, moving at the same speed, never losing a beat. The ground crew was not spared for this onslaught, with many driving their tugs at full throttle, while the ones in trucks were going at full speed to get away from the massacre. The Bladed creatures were able to easily catch up to them, running alongside the escaping tugs and trucks, and either using the blades on their arms to cut off the roof of the trucks, and simultaneously the upper torso of the drivers. In the case of the tug drivers, they used their tails to impale the drivers. Once they had, they began feasting on their bodies, with two or three of the creatures tearing apart their victims and devouring them as if they hadn't eaten in days.

Anne's right hand immediately went to her left hip, but paused when she looked down and grimaced. She had instinctively reached for her sword, but it was no longer there. When she looked at Sasha, Anne saw that the blonde had done the same, her hands resting at her hips, and with a similar expression. As for Marcy, the Taiwanese girl had her right arm pointed in the direction of the monsters, but sadly, like her two friends, this was only a reflex action, as she had no weapons to wield. It seemed that their fighting instincts had not completely dulled even after returning to civilian life, but right now they were wishing they had their weapons.

"I'm really missing my sword right now," Anne commented.

"And our anime powers, don't forget the anime powers," Marcy added.

"Agreed," Sasha replied. "And with that being the case – RUN!"

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy headed towards the exit, but were stopped when a herd of panicking people were stampeding for it as well and began to clog it up with everyone pushing and pulling, fighting one another for escape. The three young teens looked around for an alternative, but that's when they started hearing the screaming coming from further down. Some of the Bladed creatures had smashed through the windows or jumped through the ones that were already shattered and began ruthlessly killing and then eating the people they came across.

Marcy's eyes widened with pure horror as she watched a girl about her age getting eaten alive by the monsters, and she even made eye contact with her for a moment. The Taiwanese girl felt an urge to go to her, an urge to go and save her. But Marcy felt a hand grab her wrist; before she knew it, she was being pulled along. That's when she saw that it was Anne, she had grabbed Marcy and was following behind Sasha as they tried to get away before the monsters overran them.

"Where are we going?!" Marcy asked.

"Anywhere but here!" Sasha answered.

"There!" Anne pointed towards some doors where airline workers were going through. "Let's go in there!"

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy watched as one of the employees used their keycard to throw the door open and run inside. Above the door was written the words, "Baggage Area: Employee's Only". Sasha ran ahead and caught the door before it could close. She waved for Anne and Marcy to hurry up, and once they were through, Sasha let the door automatically lock behind them. Once inside, the girls saw dozens upon dozens of conveyor belts, moving luggage around. The automatic system was constantly moving, shunting one bag or suitcase off to the desired shoot. It looked like a maze, which at this point, could work to their advantage.

The three girls hid themselves, sandwiched between two large machines that protected their right and left. There were crisscrossing conveyor belts to their backs and to their front, which obscured their view, but at the same time, would hopefully obscure the view of the monsters. Now that they were in a safe place, at least as safe as they could get, Marcy leaned to the side away from the girls and threw up her breakfast. Anne rubbed small circles on her friend's back, doing her best to comfort Marcy.

"She…She looked at me, Anne… "

"I know…"

"S-She looked at me…she was begging for help…I could see it in her eyes!" Marcy exclaimed as she hugged herself.

Sasha slammed her fist against the machine, she hated feeling powerless like this. But Anne was feeling that discouragement much more. At some point, when she saw the girl getting attacked, she almost bolted to go and rescue her, but it was Sasha who stopped Anne from running to the girl's aid. Anne had shot Sasha an incredulous look at the time, but when she saw the fear in her friend's eyes, she understood.

"I'm sorry, Sash," said Anne.

"For what?"

"For giving you that look. Like you were doing something wrong," Anne clarified. "If you hadn't held me back, I…I seriously would've run to help her."

Sasha put her hand on Anne's shoulder and replied, "Don't apologize for wanting to help someone. That's just who you are, but without our powers…without any weapons…we're just normal girls again. Plus, compared to the Frobots, those things are way more vicious."

Marcy, who had managed to stop throwing up, wiped her mouth and chuckled.

"Classic hero trait. Running to the rescue when without even thinking about it." Marcy turned around and looked into Anne's eyes. "But please, resist that urge. I…I don't think I can bear to see you die again, Anne."

Marcy's eyes started to water, and that's when Sasha hugged Anne from behind. The Thai teen heard Sasha sniffling behind her as the blonde tightened her embrace.

"Me neither…Please don't sacrifice yourself like that again," Sasha said.

Anne didn't realize just how much her death had affected her friends. Forget that she was still struggling with the idea that she might be a clone, Sasha and Marcy were just happy to have her back, and dreaded the moment they might see her die.

"I won't, I promise I will never make you two experience that again," Anne stated.

"Better not, Boonchuy." Sasha released Anne and put on a confident smile after wiping the tears from her eyes. "Okay, we need to assess our situation. We have a portal that's pouring out nightmare monsters that are strong, fast, and are looking to make a meal out of humans. No doubt the police and military are on their way, but it'll take a while before they bring in bigger guns to deal with them. With that in mind, we need to make it back to the parking garage, find Mr. B, and get the hell out of here."

"Sash, my…my mom and dad," Marcy spoke up.

"Marcy, you heard what your mom told you. And after seeing those monsters, you know both your parents would tell you to run as far you can. Above all else, they want you to be safe," said Anne. "Now, if we want to get to my dad, we need weapons. What can we use?"

"It's an airport, the only weapons are guns, and the only ones with guns around here belong to the TSA and airport police. And I'm pretty sure they're using them. I hate to point this out, but none of us actually know how to use a gun," Marcy advised.

"How hard can it be? Just point and shoot," Sasha remarked.

"There's a whole lot of factors. Recoil, gravity, whether or not the barrel of the gun is aligned properly–!"

"Okay, lot of factors. Got it. Ugh, I'd feel a lot better if we had our old weapons."

Even though they didn't say it aloud, all three girls had had a sense of feeling naked without their weapons. Sasha and Anne had grown used to feeling the weight of their trusted weapons on their hips, and Marcy was just as used to the weight of her crossbow on her forearm. Sometimes they would even have a phantom feeling that they were still there, which was what led to their earlier actions when they thought they had them.

"Well…we could grab one of these random bags and see what we get, like a messed up gacha game," Marcy suggested.

"Why?" Anne asked.

"Statistically speaking, there's a good chance that someone out there was trying to check in a dangerous weapon without having it go through airport security. We might be able to find some guns, knives, heck, we might even come across someone transporting a sword or homemade IED, aka Improvised Explosive Device," said Marcy.

"…I can't believe I'm going to say this, but let's just hope that someone was crazy enough to make one of those," Sasha remarked.

"Okay, let's start grabbing."

Swiftly the girls started to pluck whatever bag they could get their hands on from the conveyor belts. They would each pull down five, put them into individual piles, and sift through them. They came across various random items, mostly clothes, or toiletries. Sasha came across a rather revealing bikini set, she pressed the swimwear against her body and struck a pose as she winked at the girls.

"What do think? Does this look good on me or what?" Sasha asked teasingly.

Anne and Sasha blushed as their imaginations instantly envisioned Sasha wearing something that bold.

"Sasha, c-c-c'mon, stop messing around!" Anne scolded.

"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood a little," Sasha apologized.

"Stupid sexy Sasha," Marcy muttered under her breath.

"JACKPOT!" Anne exclaimed.

The girls watched as Anne managed to find a functional katana. Luckily it was about the same weight as her old sword, so Anne was confident she could wield it effectively.

"Nice! But be careful, your old sword was a double-edged bastard sword, katanas are single edged, so you'll have to focus most of your attacks forward and recover before attacking again. You won't be able to come around and attack with the backside," Marcy instructed.

"Got it."

"Oh, I found something too!" Sasha announced. "What are these exactly?"

Sasha held up two curved blades. Upon inspection, Marcy knew exactly what they were.

"Those are kukri knives," Marcy informed.

"I'd rather have a sword, but I'll take what I can get."

Marcy searched through some more bags; she was hoping to find the bag of someone who was into archery. But Marcy wasn't banking on that as much. If she came across a hunting bow or crossbow, she would have to adjust it so that she could fire the arrows, and Marcy wasn't sure they had the time for that. The Taiwanese girl kept searching, but then paused, eyes widening for a moment before she quickly zipped the bag up.

"Find something interesting?" Anne asked.

"Uh…y-you could say that," Marcy remarked.

"Something 'adult oriented'?" Sashas inquired jokingly.

"N-No, l-let's just say…it'll be a last resort."

The two girls decided not to press it any further. So far, Anne and Sasha were armed. While holding some weapons did bring them a little comfort, they were worried about getting that close to the monsters. The Bladed creatures were swift, agile, and had sharp claws, blades, and tails. And there was the added worry that their knives and sword wouldn't even be able to cut their hides. These creatures were from another world, for all Anne, Sasha, and Marcy knew, their skin could be as tough as tank armor.

Unfortunately, the time to find out was upon them. They heard screaming coming from another part of the area, followed by the shrieking of one of the Bladed creatures. The trio ducked behind a control panel, waiting to see if the monster had spotted them or not. That's when they heard a snarling sound…right above them.

"On three," said Anne. "…THREE!"

Anne rolled under the control panel while Marcy ducked to the right, and Sasha the left. The monster dropped down from the ceiling and landed right where the three girls used to be. The Bladed creature's six eyes glanced between the three of them, trying to decide which of the three it would kill first. Anne knew that Marcy was the only one of them that was unarmed, so it fell to her and Sasha to at least try and injure this thing bad enough so that it wouldn't come after them. With a nod to her blonde friend, both teens released a battle cry to gain the monster's attention.

The Bladed creature snarled and as it decided to attack Anne first. The monster dashed straight for her, and Anne did the same. She raised her katana and jumped. She used the conveyor belts as springboards to get above the creature, making it follow her. While she did this, Sasha came in from the side and slashed the creature with her two kukri knives, aiming at its left leg. While the blades did cut into it, the cuts weren't that deep. Sasha had felt a great resistance when she made the cut, despite its lanky appearance, its muscle tissue was dense.

The Bladed creature felt the cut of Sasha's blades and now looked down, ready to kill her for harming it. But that's when Anne dropped from a conveyor belt overhead, leading with the katana pointed down. The Thai teen managed to stab the creature clean through its right shoulder. The sword's blade sunk about two feet into it, causing it to let out an earsplitting shriek of pain as it staggered backwards, black blood oozing from its wound. Unfortunately, it knocked Anne off, making her lose her sword in the process.

"You alright?!" Sasha asked.

"I'm fine. Damn, I was aiming for its head," Anne cursed.

"That's better than what I did, it's skin and muscles are thick, be glad you did that much damage," said Sasha.

"Yeah, but I think I just royally pissed it off!"

The creature kept thrashing around before turning its attention to the sword. It seemed to possess some intelligence, noting that the source of its pain was the sword now embedded in it. The creature used its left hand, gripped the hilt, and tore the sword out of its shoulder and tossed it to the side. The Bladed creature was still in pain, but now it had regained function of its arm.

"GIRLS, GET AWAY!" Marcy screamed.

Anne and Sasha watched as Marcy reached into the bag she had picked up earlier, and that's when she pulled out something suspect.

"Is that…?"

"There's no way in hell it is…"

"She's not really going to–?"

"OH, YES SHE IS! RUN!"

Marcy fiddled with the IED and tossed it towards the Bladed creature as she ducked behind another control panel. Anne and Sasha ran, but the monster noticed the incoming object and readied to cut it. However, just as it was about to bring its blade down, the IED exploded. The entire area rumbled as different conveyor belts were damaged and came crashing down around where the explosion went off. A domino effect began to occur as several other conveyor belts started to go haywire, shutting down, or collapsing like some others. It took a minute, but the dust finally settled, allowing the trio to regroup.

"Marcy, was that seriously a bomb?" Anne asked.

"Yeah," Marcy confirmed.

"And someone managed to sneak that in?" Sasha asked.

"Yep."

"Shit…I never thought I'd say this, but thank god for crazy ass bombers," the blonde rejoiced.

Anne breathed a sigh of relief, at least they killed one, but she had no doubts that that noise would probably attract more of them.

"Let's go before more–" Anne stopped when she heard creaking.

All three young teens watched as the twisted metal that had fallen on the Bladed creature earlier was now rising. And then in an explosive show of strength, the heaps of luggage and machinery were pushed away, revealing the Bladed creature. Its body had received some burns, with three of its six eyes having been burned and were now white and blind.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me," Sasha uttered disbelief.

Anne had to think of something fast, she needed to protect her friends. Her mind was recalling the seventy-eight years prophecy from the Guardian, but right now she was starting to wonder if that was the same as the "prophecy" of the Calamity Box. Less an inevitability and more of a "if we're lucky" kind of thing. Despite this, Anne knew one thing, they weren't getting out of this alive, not without something being done. Anne saw the sword she had used earlier, the blade had been broken off and left it a jagged mess, but still usable to a degree. Anne picked up the broken sword and held it forward in a ready stance.

"Sasha, listen to me," said Anne. "I want you to get Marcy and run!"

"NO!" Marcy yelled.

"You're not doing this to me, Boonchuy!" Sasha shouted.

"This thing's going to hunt us down unless one of us holds it back…" Anne took a deep breath. She was scared, she was completely terrified, hell, her hands were shaking along with her legs. She had died once and came back as a possible clone. Now she was staring down death again. However, even knowing that, she swallowed that fear. Her friends were everything to her, she cared for them, loved them. And Anne would rather see herself get hurt than them. "…Sasha, Marcy… I love you guys …"

"ANNE! NOOOOO!" Sasha and Marcy screamed.

Anne released a loud battle cry as she charged towards the monster. The Bladed monster shrieked as well, dashing straight for Anne and ready to kill her.

---

{Willpower…detected.}

As the monsters kept pouring out of the portal, a streak of green light shot out of it. The green light flew through the air, zipping around at such a fast speed that the world around it seemed to have slowed down to a snail's pace. The green light pierced through the wall of the main building of LAX, going through concrete and metal as if it were made of wet tissue paper. The light continued to head to its destination unimpeded until it reached the baggage area. Inside, Anne was slowly charging towards the monster, and the monster was slowly charging towards Anne. The green light shot towards Anne, just as the monster raised its right arm to cut her down with its boney blade.

However, just before the blade could hit, the streak of green light appeared between them, and released a burst of green energy that enveloped Anne and threw the monster twenty feet into the distance, sending it crashing through control panels and conveyor belts before finally stopping, and landing sprawled out on the floor. Meanwhile, the light that surrounded Anne had formed a bubble, and inside that bubble, Anne was both relieved and frightened.

"Oh, man. What fresh hell is this?" Anne questioned.

{Anne Boonchuy of Earth…}

Anne looked down and noticed a green ring floating in the air a foot in front of her. The ring was green in color, glowing, and had a strange symbol in the middle. It kind of resembled a lantern.

"Did you just talk to me?"

{Anne Boonchuy of Earth…you have the ability to overcome great fear. You are willing to place yourself in danger for the sake of your loved ones, despite the fear you may feel in the moment, you do not let it cripple you, nor prevent you from doing what is right. These are the qualities of a Green Lantern. Will you take up this power to defend the weak and protect those dear to you?}

Normally, any other teenage girl would probably be freaking out right about now, and probably ask a million questions as well. But right now, time was not on Anne's side, and this was hardly the first time she had encountered something otherworldly, or strange. After dying, coming back to life, and speaking with a multiverse god, certain things didn't faze you as much as they used to. So, without hesitation, Anne furrowed her brow and smirked as she stared down the ring.

"If you can give me the power to protect my friends and family, and everyone here, then please, let me use that power!" Anne requested.

{Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.}

The Anne dropped the sword in her hand, and immediately the ring slipped itself over her right middle finger. The Thai teen felt an incredible surge of power coursing through her young body, invigorating every cell from the tips of her toes to every stand of hair on her head. Anne's clothes started to shift and change. Her pants, shirt, and shoes were gone, and had been replaced with a black body suit. White boots formed over her lower legs, at the same time, white gloves appeared over her hands that covered most of her forearms. A green belt formed around Anne's waist, followed by a green chest plate and shoulder pauldrons. In the center of the chest plate was the insignia of the Green Lanterns, glowing brightly in front of a white background. Anne's eyes had a green colored mask covering them, with eye holes that shined white, obscuring her eyes from being seen.

The bubble containing Anne shattered after her transformation was over, leaving her standing there before her two friends who stared at her in awe. Anne looked herself over, still trying to understand how this was possible. However, that moment to think wasn't going to happen as the monster roared with fury, having been hurt more than once by its prey. Most predatory animals would just give up by now, but like Anne had stated earlier, it was pissed off. The Bladed monster stampeded towards them, jumped onto the ceiling, and then vaulted off as it came down to kill Anne.

The Thai teen didn't really think, but instead acted. She quickly pointed the ring in the monster's direction, and as if sensing her intention, the ring glowed brighter and brighter until it shot a beam of concentrated green energy. The beam soared straight for the monster and burned a ten-inch-wide hole straight through its chest. The beam continued onward as it blasted a huge hole in the ceiling before stopping. The monster released a small noise before it dropped out of the air, having lost its momentum, and landed on its back, dead.

Anne panted, her hands were shaking a bit, but she was relieved that she managed to kill the creature.

"Holy Frog, I can't believe it! Sash, Marce, did you see–?!"

*SLAP!*

Anne's left cheek suddenly felt stinging pain. When she turned to look back, the Thai teen saw that it was Marcy who had slapped her, much to Anne's – and even Sasha's – surprise. The Taiwanese teen's eyes had tears streaming down her face as she glared at Anne, but before Anne could utter a word, Marcy threw her arms around Anne and hugged her tightly.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, ANNE BOONCHUY!" Marcy yelled. "I can't…We can't lose you…not again…"

Anne hugged Marcy back and said, "I'm sorry."

After a moment to gather themselves, Anne released Marcy and looked at Sasha.

"You're not going to slap me too, are you?"

"Slap? No. Punch? Maybe," Sasha answered. "But that's for future Sasha and Anne to worry about. Right now, I want to know what the hell just happened. What's with the getup? And how did you kill that thing?"

"I think it's because of this ring." Anne raised her right hand and showed off the green ring to Sasha and Marcy. "Not gonna lie, I feel really strong right now."

"Is it like the Calamity Gems?" Marcy asked.

"No, it feels different, but still powerful."

Marcy's eyes were fixated on the ring as she reached out to it and murmured, "And it all came from this ri–"

{Please refrain from touching this unit.}

"GAAAH!" Marcy yelped as she jumped back. "Holy crud it talks! So cool!"

"It talks, huh? Okay, ring, what the heck are you?" Sasha questioned.

{That information cannot be given. Only my authorized wielder may request such information.}

Sasha and Marcy looked at Anne.

"Oh, I guess that means me. So, uh, yeah, what Sasha said. What are you?"

{I am an AI system integrated into every Green Lantern power ring in order to assist my wielders with different tasks pertaining to their prime directives.}

"Those would be what? And what is a Green Lantern?}

The ring suddenly released green light, creating a holographic display around the girls as multiple beings made up of varying alien races appeared. All of them had the exact same symbol on Anne's ring and chest plate, but their uniforms varied in style and design.

{The Green Lantern Corps. is an organization founded by the Guardians of Universe. Power ring units like myself are tasked with wandering the universe, and seeking those who possess great willpower, the power to overcome fear in the face of mortal peril, and who possess the qualities becoming of a Green Lantern. The Corps. is tasked with the duty of keeping the peace in the universe, and protecting the innocent from criminals, natural disasters, or those who would seek to do the universe harm.}

Marcy gasped as she exclaimed, "It's like an organization of superheroes!"

"Or an intergalactic police force," Sasha commented.

"Okay…so…you chose me because I have the qualities you're looking for?" Anne asked.

{Affirmative.}

Sasha smirked as she patted Anne's shoulder.

"We told you you're a hero, Boonchuy," Sasha said.

Anne blushed a little, but then turned her attention to the dead monster.

"What even are those things."

{Please point this unit in the creature's direction for scanning.}

"Wait, you can do that?!"

{Affirmative.}

Anne didn't waste time and pointed the ring at the dead monster. A thin green light passed over the dead monster once before stopping.

{Analysis complete. Creature is of the Rayth species. A mostly carnivorous race with mild intelligence. They are extremely hostile and aggressive. They are split into two categories. Rayth Sang have a slender but lean build, and can be identified via their sharp exoskeletal claws, blades, and their angular heads. The second, Rayth Borg, are bigger and less agile than a Rayth Sang, but boast incredible physical strength.}

"Great, so how do we kill them?" Sasha asked.

{Information request denied.}

"UGH!" Sasha fumed.

"How do we kill them?"

{Due to their planet's harsh environment, a Rayth's body is denser compared to a human body. However, they are not unkillable. A strong enough attack will break their bones, a sharp enough weapon will sever through them, and as demonstrated, a beam attack will pierce them. They can be subdued but are difficult.}

"Well, that's good news, at least they can be take them down," said Marcy.

Anne had gone quiet for a moment as she contemplated what the ring had told them. As she did, Sasha narrowed her gaze.

"I can tell you're thinking about something, Anne. What's up?" Sasha asked.

"Ring, is there a way to lure them all into one spot?" Anne inquired.

{Rayth will attack any available food source. However, if a threat is great enough, the Rayth will shift their focus to eliminate the threat. They will attack the source of the threat to the exclusion of all other things. If you are successful in eliminating enough of their numbers, they will perceive you as an immediate threat that must be eliminated at all costs.}

"Anne, I can see where you're going with this," said Sasha. "You're not seriously going to go out there and start fighting them on your own are you?!"

"If I can make them focus on me instead of everyone else, it'll at least by everyone some time, at least enough for the military to get here," said Anne. "I'm the only one with the power to do it."

"Anne…" Sasha and Anne turned to Marcy who had a serious look on her face. "No matter what happens, promise us. Promise us you'll come back alive. Not half dead or barely alive!"

Anne smiled at her friend and replied, "I promise. You guys won't lose me again."

Marcy sighed and dropped her serious expression and shifted to an encouraging smile.

"Then, go out there and save the day, Anne."

Sasha rubbed the back of her head as she, too, sighed and added, "Dammit, I hate not being able to help you…But go out there and kick some ass!"

"Alright!" Anne was about to run, but paused and asked, "Hey, can I fly?"

{Flight capabilities are active.}

"I wonder…" Anne concentrated, and as she did, her feet started to lift off the ground. With each passing second, Anne ascended higher into the air. "Holy crap it worked! I can fly, it's just like before! Okay, stay safe, and I'll be right back!"

Sasha and Marcy watched as Anne rose higher and then flew out through the hole she had made in the ceiling.

"There she goes," said Sasha.

"There she goes," Marcy repeated. "So, can I assume you have a crush on Anne?"

Sasha's shoulders slumped as an uneasy smile appeared on her face.

"That obvious?" Sasha asked.

"At least to me, Anne's an oblivious anime protag," said Marcy.

"So true. And what about you?" Sasha inquired.

"…Y-Yeah," Marcy answered bashfully.

"Heh, guess we're gonna have a talk later."

---

Anne was high in the air above LAX, from her position, she could see the tarmac, and the portal that was still wide open, and funneling in more of the Rayth.

"Okay, so…do you have any weapons, or do you just shoot beams?" Anne asked.

{My capabilities are based on your willpower. Through the power of the Green Light of Will, you can manifest constructs of whatever it is you can imagine. So long as you have the strength and concentration to will it into existence. It can be made.}

"Constructs", that word struck a chord with Anne. She remembered Marcy using that word once before when they talked about their powers. Like she created a giant tennis racket and ball, and how Sasha created wings and pompoms.

"So, if it's similar to the Calamity power, then…" Anne's ring started to glow brighter as she concentrated. The Thai teen whipped out her right hand, and in an instant, a green construct tennis racket appeared. "Oh yeah, I got this!"

Anne held out her left hand and formed a glowing construct tennis ball. She fixed her gaze on the portal, smirked, and tossed the ball into the air.

"HERE'S THE SERVE!"

The Green Lantern smacked the tennis ball with her construct racket, making the ball shoot straight towards the portal. Halfway towards the target, the ball broke apart, and transformed into dozens of cute cat constructs that zipped around in the form of energy beams. The Rayth that were around the portal and coming through it looked up just in time as the constructs impacted. A series of powerful explosions went off in front of and around the portal, completely obliterating the Rayths that were at the portal. The few that weren't instantly incinerated were flung in different directions, either missing limbs, or torn apart from the sheer force of the explosions.

Anne smirked, using the ring's power was similar to her Calamity powers. It was a different feeling, but the concept was the same, at least to her anyway. With this in mind, Anne coated her arms in the green energy, creating construct recreations of Frobo's arms. The shoulders of the construct arms opened and revealed several missile pods and gatling cannons, with the arms' hands taking on gatling cannon form as well. With her weapons ready, Anne unleashed a barrage on the Rayths that were close to the airport, essentially carving a line in the sand as the monsters were blown back. Some were riddled with laser fire, while others were blown up. But Anne didn't let up as she continued her onslaught, trying to make these things see her as the enemy they needed to focus on instead of the people.

The Thai teen dropped out of the sky and landed with a flourish onto the ground. One of the Rayth Sang saw her and immediately went to kill her. However, just as it brought down its blade, Anne formed a replica of Tritonio's sword in her right hand, using it to block the attack with little effort. The Rayth Sang seemed shocked by a human being able to block its attack, which made Anne grin. Using her flying abilities, she rose and pushed the creature's blade away, leaving it wide open. With a swift slash, Anne sliced off the Rayth Sang's head, causing black blood to ooze from its neck as it fell over. Two Rayth Sangs ran towards her, but Anne swiftly threw her construct sword at one of them. The sword flew on a straight path and found its home right between the eyes of the first Rayth Sang, making it tumble and roll on the ground, now lying dead on the runway.

The Rayth Sang lunged at Anne, but just before it could reach her, a construct brick wall rose in front of her. The alien creature was not able to change its direction as it rammed its head into the wall at full force, breaking its neck with a sickening crunching sound.

The ground beneath Anne's feet started to rumble. When she turned around, she saw a one of the Rayth Borgs lumbering towards her, running at full speed. Anne reformed her sword, but then thought she could go bigger. Taking a cue from one of Marcy's anime, Anne remade the sword into a huge seven foot long, three foot wide "Buster Sword". Anne twirled the giant sword around with little effort as she flew at the Rayth Borg. Once the creature was in range, it cocked back its right fist and threw a punch straight at her. Anne nimbly weaved around the monster's punch and came down with a vertical slash, cleaving through the monster's right shoulder like a hot knife through butter. When she landed, the Rayth Borg's entire right arm hit the ground as black blood sprayed from the wound.

The Rayth Borg cried out in pain as it stumbled backwards, but Anne pressed the attack as she spun around, and slashed it horizontally. The monster ceased its cries as its top half slid off and hit the ground, followed by its lower half. Anne saw a trio of Rayth Borgs heading her way, so she twirled her sword around, making the sword's blade glow brighter and brighter with stored power. With a loud battle cry, Anne brought down the sword, slashing towards the Rayth Borgs and unleashed a powerful sword beam that turned the asphalt and concrete into molten slag in its wake. The beam engulfed all three of the Rayth Borgs and burned them to ashes. The beam continued as it hit a group of ten Rayth Borgs and Sangs and created a huge explosion that wiped them out.

"C'mon! How many of them do I have to kill before they take the hint?!" Anne complained.

The Rayths seemed to have heard her, as all the Rayths that were close to Anne that were alive started to release loud roaring shriek that echoed through the air.

"Now what are they doing?"

{Rayth distress call detected. They are signaling to the rest of their kind to come to aid them. Warning: detecting incoming Rayths.}

"Are they coming from the building?"

{Affirmative.}

Perfect!

Anne flew into the air and then landed as close as possible to the portal, making sure that they could see her. Just as the ring had said, the Rayths that had begun the initial attack were now crawling over from the other side of the building, while some ran through it and jumped out the windows to return to the tarmac where Anne was. Once they were close enough, Anne reformed the construct Frobo arms and began shooting and firing missiles at the Rayths. Explosions went off all around her as she hovered in the air and slowly rotated, letting every Rayth that dared to get close get a face full of energy bullets and missiles. The Rayths began to swarm her, but she didn't give up, Anne kept shooting, even as they began to ignore the pain of her attacks.

From a distance, one could see Sasha and Marcy, having left the baggage area. They stood at the broken windows and watched with worry as Anne was completely swarmed and piled on by the Rayth. Just when they thought Anne was lost, a green glow started to shine from the center of the pile. And in the next moment, a huge female construct broke through. The giantess construct looked like a royal knight, clad in ornate armor. A cape fluttered in the wind behind it as its eyes blazed with emerald light. Anne could faintly be seen inside of the construct's chest, right where the Green Lantern insignia was.

Despite the knight construct's size, it moved with the same swiftness that Anne had. The twenty-foot-tall construct dropped down to one knee and struck the ground hard with its right fist, sending a surge of green energy into the ground. The Rayths looked down and watched as green fissures formed all around them, and then the ground exploded, setting off a blast of emerald energy. The construct giantess jumped out of the explosion, flipping in the air before landing to a skidding halt just a few yards away from the explosion. Anne reformed Tritonio's sword, but a giant version to match the giant construct. While the Rayths she killed with that explosion were laid strewn across the broken ground, more started to come through the portal.

"Oh, for the love of Frog…how much more punishment can they take?"

{The Rayth species are relentless. Once a food source has been located, they will not stop until they have consumed their fill. The same can be said when dealing with a threat to their survival.}

"Then let's see how they like this!"

Anne raised her arms up, making the giantess construct do the same with the sword. More and more emerald energy began to flow towards the sword's blade, appearing as green particles that floated to it. More and more Rayths began to appear, forming a small army around the portal as they shrieked and roared at her. Soon, the blade of her sword was charged, now glowing with barely contained energy as emerald flames lapped off it. Anne let out a loud battle cry as she slashed towards the portal. A beam of emerald light blasted forth from the blade, tearing apart the already broken ground as the beam roared towards the portal. The Rayths had no time to get out of the way as the beam completely washed over the portal and the Rayths. Anne was sure some of the beam had passed through the portal, and hopefully was wiping out whatever number of the Rayths that were still waiting for them on the other side.

The Green Lantern ceased her attack, afterwards, the construct disappeared as Anne floated down to the ground. The young Thai teen panted from her efforts, but kept her eyes trained on the portal. Despite the ridiculous number of attacks she lobbed its way, the portal remained intact. But at this point, she prayed to the Guardian that the monsters on the other side had finally taken the hint.

{Warning: detecting new threat.}

"Now what?"

Anne's eyes widened as she watched a huge arm pass through the portal, and then gripped the edge of it. A second appeared and it, too, pressed its hand against the edge. The arms of this new creature were rippling with muscles and had three huge talons on each hand. The new Rayth began to push on the portal, as if forcing it to open wider. As unbelievable as it was, Anne witnessed how the new Rayth began to widen the portal through sheer physical strength alone. As the portal expanded, more of the new Rayth started to emerge. Its head was next, sporting three huge sharp eyes, and six smaller sharp eyes. The Rayth's head was adorned with an exoskeletal crown of curved horns, as if it was a king. The Rayth continued to open the portal, allowing its chest to be seen, also rippling with muscles. Tentacles began to slip through, which seemed to be coming from its back, and so far all of them had bone arrowhead tips. The new Rayth opened its mouth and unleashed a beastly roar of dominance, showing off its many rows of razor-sharp teeth, along with its barbed tongue.

"What…is…that?!"

{Rayth Rex, a king class Rayth. It stands taller than the rest of its kind, having greater strength than both variants of its species combined. It is also intelligent, able to command the lower Rayths to do as it wishes. This is not an opponent that you should be facing, not at your current combat level.}

"It's not like I can just run! If that thing makes it through the portal, it'll mow through LA! We just started getting things back to normal, the people don't need another invasion!" Anne argued.

Anne was then struck with an idea, but it was crazy.

"Ring, what if I close the portal?" Anne asked.

{Theoretically it is possible, but current calculations show that–}

"Don't care about the odds! So long as it isn't zero, then we can do it!"

Anne widened her stance and raised her right arm. Pointing her ring at the portal and the Rayth Rex, Anne focused and shot a beam of emerald light straight at the portal. However, the beam started to widen and wrap itself around the edge of the portal itself. Anne concentrated again, making the green light force the portal to contract rather than widen. She could feel it fighting against her, and with help from the Rayth Rex, it was a difficult tug of war. Anne panted harder as her head pounded from the effort of trying to close the portal. The Rayth Rex wasn't making things easier as it continued to push back against its closing, roaring defiantly at Anne in the process. The Thai teen felt her knees shake, going down into a kneeling position as she kept fighting back to close it.

{Power levels at 45%.}

"Power levels?! What power levels?!" Anne questioned.

{Each power ring has a charge, upwards of 100%. A single charge for a ring can last twenty-four hours, with minimal use. Excess use during combat or for trivial matters can result in a drain on the charge.}

"YOU COULD'VE TOLD ME THAT SOONER!" Anne yelled. "You're telling me I only have forty-five percent left before I run out of juice?!"

{Power levels at 43%. And yes.}

At this rate, Anne feared that her ring would give out long before this beast would. She had to stop this thing, she had to keep it from coming through or else the Earth would be overrun by the Rayths. She couldn't allow that, just as her friends didn't want her to die, neither did Anne want to see her friends and family die.

In the distance, Sasha and Marcy were holding each other's hands, squeezing tightly as they watched Anne try to contain the big monster coming through.

You got this, Anne, you're stronger than you know, thought Sasha.

You're our hero, Anne, you can do this! Marcy thought.

Anne started to hear a whisper, it was faint, but it was clear. She heard the words it spoke to her, and without thinking repeated them aloud.

"In Brightest Day…In Blackest Night…!"

Anne's insignia and ring began to glow brighter.

"No evil shall escape my sight…!"

The Green Lantern stood from her kneeling position, feeling her strength getting renewed, and her focus much sharper. The light that surrounded the edges of the portal glowed brighter and started to contract the portal. The Rayth Rex roared louder, trying to force the portal open, but it was becoming clear that the Rayth Rex was fighting a losing battle.

"Let those who worship evil's might…!"

Anne's ring now shined like a bright star in the night sky.

"BEWARE MY POWER, GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!"

The Rayth Rex released one last roar of defiance before a large blast of green energy shot towards the portal. All six eyes of the Rayth Rex widened as a huge beam of green light crashed into it and pushed it back through the portal in one go. The moment it was gone, Anne focused that same energy to wrap around the portal and made it swirl into a spiral, and an instant, shrunk the portal to the size of basketball.

Anne continued to channel her willpower, feeling the portal wanted to reopen. However, Anne was not about to let that happen. Her ring shot one more beam of emerald light and shot the portal directly. The energy from her blast began to destabilize it until the portal's energy imploded and then exploded. A huge blast rang out through the area, releasing waves of plasma energy that bled out into the air and then disappeared altogether.

When it was over, only Anne was standing. The young teen panted hard from the effort, but smiled upon seeing that the portal was completely gone.

"We…We did it!" Anne exclaimed.

{More accurately, you did it. Your will is surprisingly strong, Anne Boonchuy.}

"Thanks, dude. Say, how much power you got left?"

{Power Levels at 25%.}

"Yeesh, well, at least the worst part's over."

"FREEZE!"

Anne slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder. That's when she noticed the huge number of soldiers pointing their guns right at her.

"Uh, okay, I know this looks kind of bad. What with all the property damage–"

"GET ON THE GROUND, NOW!" one of the soldiers ordered.

Anne didn't know what to do. She doubted that their weapons could hurt her, but neither did she want them to think that she was their enemy. Just then one of the soldiers had a confused look on his face as he received a communication through his radio. Then his expression changed to disbelief, and then finally acceptance. That same soldier broke from the rest of the group and addressed his men.

"Everyone, stand down!"

"B-But sir–!"

"This is a direct order! From the top! Stand down!" he ordered.

The assembled soldiers all had reluctant looks on their faces, but complied with the soldier's order, nonetheless.

"Uh, thank you. I'd help with the cleanup, but I'm kind of wiped out now. So, I need a breather." Anne then whispered to her ring, "How the heck am I going to get away from here without them following me?!"

{Stealth Mode can be engaged, but it is recommended that we move to a secure location as quickly as possible to avoid a prolonged drain on power.}

"Okay, do it!"

As soon as Anne gave the word, her entire body vanished from sight. What the soldiers didn't know was that the ring was reflecting the light away from Anne, turning her invisible. As quietly as she could, Anne rose into the air and flew back to the main building of LAX. She entered through one of the broken windows, and after making sure that Sasha and Marcy were the only ones there, she landed behind them and had the ring drop her out of Stealth Mode.

"Sasha, Marcy!" The two girls turned around, and gasped. Anne was standing there in her Green Lantern uniform, but after a moment, the uniform disappeared, reverting to her original attire.

"ANNE!" Sasha and Marcy yelled joyfully as they ran to her and enveloped her in a group hug.

"I came back alive, just like I promised," said Anne.

"Damn right you did, Anne! Otherwise, I would've dragged you back from the dead and killed you myself!" Sasha remarked with tears in her eyes and a happy smile.

"You were amazing, Anne! You stopped those monsters from overrunning the city, probably the whole world! You are a hero," Marcy said.

Anne chuckled and hugged her friends tighter.

"I just did the right thing."

---

(3 Weeks Later…)

Needless to say, the government was not able to cover up this latest invasion by calling it a "hoax". The amount of people who were killed, plus the people in the airport, made it a complete nightmare to try and contain. So, instead, they decided to roll with it. This did bring up whether or not "Frog-vasion" was actually a hoax or not, but they managed to keep that tamped down for the time being. It was later confirmed by Mr. X that Dr. Frakes was responsible for the incident. The wanted fugitive's portal device experienced some kind malfunction and caused the initial explosion and portal creation that brought the monsters to Earth.

Terri, on the other hand, did not believe that to be the case. While they weren't going to argue with the story Mr. X had cooked up to the media, Terri was extremely skeptical about Dr. Frakes's portal device malfunctioning that severely. The woman was an egotistical bitch, but Terri couldn't deny that Dr. Frakes was a brilliant scientist. So, they couldn't see the not-so-good doctor's invention just up and exploding like that. Terri suspected foul play, and so did Mr. X.

Needless to say, Mr. X brought in Anne, Sasha, and Marcy after he discovered that they were there during the incursion and informed them of what they had discovered regarding the entire incident. Anne was somehow not surprised to find out that Dr. Frakes was responsible for what happened, considering the crazy scientist nearly dissected her froggy family. And as expected, Mr. X had a ton of questions for Anne regarding her newly acquired accessory. To which Anne had the ring give him and everyone a massive info dump about the Green Lantern Corps., with the ring adding on that it came through the portal and had no means by which to return to its home universe.

Considering that they have been invaded more than once and given that the people of Earth were understandably frightened at the thought of another invasion. Anne decided that she would take up the role of being the Earth's protector. She would become their universe's Green Lantern, or as some on the internet had come to call her, the "Emerald Knight". Mr. X wasn't too thrilled about putting these young girls back into a dangerous situation, but he really wasn't given much of a choice. The ring had chosen Anne, and apparently until she dies, the ring wouldn't choose a successor. Mr. X decided to keep Anne's identity as the Emerald Knight a secret from the government, giving assurances that the Emerald Knight was on the side of humanity. Again, being the cautious man he was, Mr. X made sure to say "humanity", not the "United States". The last thing he wanted was for his government to start using Anne as a weapon.

Anne told her parents what happened. After having kept secrets from them in the past, Anne decided to tell them everything. Of course, Oum Boonchuy, Anne's mother, was not exactly happy about the idea of having her only daughter putting herself in danger, again. But she was at least grateful that she wasn't going to be taken away to another world like Amphibia. So, together, Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy told Anne that they would help her as best they could.

Thankfully, Marcy's parents were spared during the attack, having found a safe place to hide while the battle was waged between Anne and the Rayths. Considering how many times their travel plans had been stopped recently, Mr. Wu decided to speak with his company, and amazingly, found that a position opened in his company, granting him a promotion much similar to the one that would've had them move. So, with that, Marcy's move was officially cancelled, and the nerdy teen was free to call Los Angeles her home for the foreseeable future.

Now, the girls were brought to a secret training facility. It was something that Mr. X had off the books, so no one aside from Jenny, Terri, the trio, and the IT Gals were aware of. The three of them were currently in a huge room, easily the size of an airplane hangar.

"I still say that Mr. X had a hand in getting your dad promoted here instead of Massachusetts," said Sasha.

"At this point, I don't care! We get to stay together!" Marcy exclaimed.

"Thank Frog, I was not ready yet," Anne sighed. "By the way, why did you guys come with me? Not that I don't like the company."

Sasha and Marcy glanced at each other, nodded, and then looked back at Anne.

"Because we're going to train and get back into fighting shape," said Sasha.

"Wait, what?! Why?!" Anne questioned.

"Well, Anna-banana, we want to fight with you. We may not have our powers anymore, or even a power ring, but Sasha and I agreed that we don't want you fighting alone. It may take us a while to catch up to you, but we're going to work hard," said Marcy.

"Plus, Jess and Ally are working with Mr. X to make us some kick ass battle suits so that we can help you out in situations like that," Sasha added.

Anne smiled as she said, "Thanks you guys."

{Would you like to begin your training, Lantern Anne?}

"Oh, uh, yeah. So, how does this work?" Anne asked.

{In case any Lantern was cut off from being able to return to the Corps. homebase to go through basic training, all ring units were preprogrammed with basic training instructions for new Lanterns.}

"Sweet, well, let's start then."

{Initiating basic training program. Program start.}

The ring released emerald light, and a moment later, a holographic being stood before the three girls. He was large, and clearly alien. His Green Lantern uniform looked more like armor.

{ATTEN-HUT!}

Anne looked around and asked, "Is it talking to me?"

{Ah course, I'm talking to you!}

"AAH!" Anne immediately stood at attention.

{Alright, that's more like it. The name's Kilowog, I'm a Drill Instructor in the Green Lantern Corps. And I have the great dishonor of whipping you into shape so that you don't get yourself killed doin' something stupid!} The Kilowog hologram moved closer to Anne and stared directly into the teen's eyes as she gulped. {Be prepared, rookie, because whatever kind of workout or trainin' you've done in the past, will seem like a vacation when I'm through with ya! Welcome to my nightmare, POOZER! Now give me fifty laps!}

Anne immediately began running around the interior in a wide circle.

Marcy moved closer to Sasha and whispered, "Soooo…when do you think we should tell Anne we both have huge crushes on her?"

{RUN! ROOKIE! RUN!}

The two girls watched as the Kilowog hologram floated next to Anne, doing the typical drill sergeant routine of berating the new recruits.

{Ya call that runnin'?! I've seen a flovorkian run faster than you! And they only got one leg!}

"KILL MEEEE!" Anne begged.

{Dyin' is for chumps! You can die on your own time! You're on my time, ya poozer!}

Sasha then whispered back, "Maybe after she's done with this workout from hell."

"Agreed."

---

While this was going on, Mr. X was monitoring the girls from an observation room, making sure that they were doing okay. And from the looks of it, Anne's new drill instructor was putting her through the ringer. Reminded him of his days in basic. Mr. X sipped on some tea just before he heard the door open.

"Hello, Mr. X," said Terri.

"Oh, Terri, come in."

Terri walked into the observation room and asked, "So, how's Anne doing?"

"See for yourself."

Terri looked out through the one-way mirror and grimaced at how the hologram was having Anne go through a lot while her friends watched on helplessly.

"Yeesh," Terri uttered. "Well, anyway, have you made any headway into how Dr. Frakes's invention went off?"

"Not so much, but we have figured out that she was receiving financial aid from an unknown backer. We don't know who they are or if this is just connected to an individual or an organization. For whatever reason, they wanted Dr. Frakes's portal device, and obviously not for humanitarian reasons," Mr. X informed.

Terri looked down at the bespectacled man and said, "Why do I feel like you have your own theory as to what those reasons are?"

Mr. X sipped his tea again, and answered, "Honey, those reasons range anywhere from using the technology to plunder resources like the ancient Amphibians did. To just wanting to cause as much mayhem and destruction as possible by opening portals to alien worlds and seeing what comes out of them."

Terri shook their head when they heard the last part of that.

"Wait a minute, the first one makes sense, but the second one? Why would anyone do that?" Terri questioned.

Mr. X shrugged.

"Why do pyromaniacs enjoy starting fires so much? Why do serial killer's kill people? Sometimes, Terri, there's no logical reason behind the madness. And you can often find yourself going insane trying to find it. Some people just like hurting others because they can, some like setting things on fire because they like it, and others want to see the world get demolished because they find it amusing."

Mr. X sipped his tea again.

"I've seen a lot of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to humanity Terri, and it can get depressing, let me tell ya."

Terri had a downtrodden expression on their face when they heard that. Science was supposed to be used for the betterment of mankind, not to cause harm or destruction. They weren't that naïve, Terri was fully aware that every great invention that brilliant scientists of the past have made was created for the sole purpose of helping humanity, but others would see such inventions turned into weapons first and foremost. But Terri still wished such things weren't true.

"How do you keep from getting swallowed up by that kind of darkness? From feeling that the world just wants to embrace chaos?" Terri asked.

"I try to find glimmers of hope, hon. And right now, I'm looking at three standing outside the window."

Terri looked up and saw that Anne was now being instructed on how to maintain her focus when creating constructs, while Sasha was teaching Marcy some basic hand-to-hand combat techniques.

"People like those girls, are what give me hope for us. From what they've told me, they weren't exactly the best they could be. They were their worst selves. But after all they've been through, they've managed to turn all of that trauma and hardship into strength to change. And our Anne is a prime example of that. She could've said no to being our protector, but she chose to take on the mantle," Mr. X explained. "They give me hope for the future."

Terri smiled and nodded their head.

"And that includes people like yourself, Terri. We need young scientists like you, who know when and where to draw their line in the sand, and not cross it."

"Is that why you keep me, Ally, Jess, and the girls off the books?" Terri questioned.

Again, Mr. X shrugged.

"Who can say? All I know is, I intend to have our young Emerald Knight's light shine as bright as possible."