Hal Jordan's commanding stance in the middle of the floor of Warrior's
belied his true feelings of doubt, confusion and remorse. He had
returned to a darker, angrier world where he was reviled for crimes
committed by his evil doppelganger Parallax, and he had a long
road to redemption ahead. He had returned to a murkier, complicated
world where the Corps was no more, Oa was destroyed, the Guardians
were gone. He had returned to a nightmare world where an army
of more Green Lantern doppelgangers armed with black Qwardian
power rings was poised to attack, led by Hal's deadliest foe,
Sinestro.
Hal Jordan had returned to this and most recently* (last
issue) had found himself with no choice but to forcibly
subdue a vision of a young girl whom he never wanted to harm,
only to then watch one old ally turn brutally on another. Hal
Jordan had returned to hell breaking loose, to a web of contradictions
and betrayals that threatened to rob him of the fearless conviction
he would need to survive in this bleak and deadly world.
Threatened … but would never succeed.
"Stand down, Guy," Jordan ordered, one fist leveled
at Guy Gardner's chest as his power ring glowed brightly, the
other clenched tightly at his side. Gardner was hunched over,
shifting his weight back and forth on the balls of his feet,
his Vuldarian physiology rippling as his hands morphed into
ever-changing implements of destruction.
"Heh heh heh, Jordan, Jordan, Jordan," Gardner grinned
menacingly, his blank eyes fixed on Jordan's. "Always the
good little soldier boy. I always hated it when you ordered
me around."
"Guy, you're not yourself," Jordan continued, standing
his ground. He didn't know what kind of influence Gardner was
under, but he hoped to buy at least a little time to form a
reasonable plan. Jordan quickly surveyed the situation. Gardner,
with one arm now ending in a battleaxe and another in a bazooka,
was directly in front of him. Just behind Gardner he could see
Kyle Rayner and Kilowog. Rayner had used his power ring to create
an oxygen mask for the big alien, who seemed to be coming around
after the vicious blow Gardner had dealt him moments ago. Rayner
seemed tensed leap into action as soon as the next move was
made. The unconscious duplicate Arisia still lay unconscious
on the floor, but Jordan could hear the duplicate Hollika Rahn
beginning to rouse herself and climb out of a booth on the other
side of the restaurant, as well as the duplicate Chaselon just
behind him. Ganthet … was gone. Hal couldn't remember where
the Guardian had gone when the duplicate Green Lanterns attacked.
Well then, it was he and Kyle against two doppelgangers and
a Vuldarian. So be it.
"Don't tell me who I am," Gardner sneered. He straightened,
sticking out his chest and brandishing his weapon-fitted limbs
high over his head. "I know who's who around here. This
is my place - I'm the Warrior, and you're DEAD!" With that,
Gardner leapt at Jordan, swinging the battle-axe arm savagely.
Jordan was already in the air and Gardner's axe met no resistance,
ringing against the linoleum of the restaurant floor. Gardner's
other arm snapped up to aim at Jordan, and a blast shot out
of the bazooka.
"Kyle, restrain him!" Jordan called as he dodged
the incoming fire. "Try not to hurt him, but don't let
him trash the whole place!" Then he turned to meet Chaselon's
and Hollika's duplicates in midair, creating a translucent green
castle tower around himself as they attacked with their black
energy rings.
Rayner was on his feet instantly, galvanized by the legendary
Hal Jordan in action. He had the drop on Gardner, who was screaming
incoherently as well as slowly laying waste to the roof of Warrior's;
Gardner's bazooka blasts were ricocheting off Jordan's floating
emerald battlements and destroying the ceiling. Rayner focused
his will and created a 20 foot tall jade-colored man, grotesquely
obese, wearing sneakers, shorts, a t-shirt emblazoned with "GLC
Athletics - XXXXL" and a ballcap. In one meaty fist the
fat man clutched a pennant reading "CORPS!" and in
the other he held a paper tray of emerald nachos and chili dogs.
The giant green avatar sat down squarely on Gardner and waved
its pennant happily, and the bazooka blasts ceased.
"Sorry, Guy," Rayner apologized to his friend. "Hopefully
you won't even remember this unpleasant little exchange by the
time we've got you back in your right mind … or whatever normally
passes for your right mind."
Rayner looked up at Hal Jordan's fight. Jordan was still on
the defensive, under attack from both sides. The Hollika Rahn
doppelganger, still floating in midair, had created an ebony
dragon that was currently breathing oily black flames at the
left side of Jordan's green turret. Chaselon's duplicate had
landed on the ground and used his power ring to construct an
obsidian catapult that was hurling an endless volley of black
boulders at Jordan's right side. Jordan was holding up under
the dual onslaught but unable to turn the tide and take the
offensive.
Rayner resolved to even things up. Two oversized green pinball
flippers rose up from the ground behind Chaselon and swung forward,
slamming into the duplicate's spherical, crystalline body and
sending it hurtling through the restaurant. Three green bumpers
arose in Chaselon's path and the doppelganger caromed from one
to the other. The obsidian catapult dissipated as Chaselon was
battered senseless, thin robotic limbs waving helplessly.
Jordan allowed himself a small smile, and reminded himself to
thank Kyle for the assist later. For now, Jordan focused all
of his attention on the Hollika doppelganger. The green tower
surrounding Jordan continued to take the brunt of the ebony
dragon's attack, but Jordan willed a solid beam of verdant energy
at the false Hollika, forcing her back into the wall. Hollika
recovered and with naked rage on her face pointed her power
ring at the dragon, which transformed into hundreds of spinning
black buzzsaws cutting into Jordan's floating fortress. Jordan
responded by dropping the castle surrounding and creating a
giant green horseshoe magnet, which attracted all of the buzzsaws
to its surface. He looked at the woman across from him, and
every detail was just as he remembered - her scarlet skin and
black mohawk hair, her green and white toga decorated with the
symbol of the Corps, even the way she held her body as she fought
him. But her face - the features were right, yet the expression
was unabated hatred, a deathwish look that Hollika Rahn in her
darkest hour could never have summoned up. It was enough to
erase all doubt and let Hal Jordan know this was not truly one
of his old allies, but a gross mockery. All of these black ring
wielders were. He had done the right thing putting the Arisia
doppelganger out of commission, and he was doing the right thing
now.
A burst of green light filled Warrior's as Hal Jordan's power
ring brought into being a gigantic green judge's gavel. The
gavel swung down at the duplicate Hollika and drove her all
the way to the ground. Hollika struggled to her hands and knees,
clearly shaken by the blow.
As Rayner watched Jordan's moment of triumph, he could feel
some feedback through his own power ring. He turned to the corpulent
bleacher bum sitting atop Gardner and re-focused his will upon
it, but Gardner was slashing his way out of the construct's
tumescent green belly. Gardner's upper extremities now resembled
a machete and a hacksaw as he burst through Kyle's energy being.
In a heartbeat Gardner was lunging at Rayner, attacking with
bladed limbs, and Rayner was forced onto the defensive. Emerald
riot gear attached itself to the Green Lantern's body, and Rayner
brought up a large green Police shield to block Gardner's hacksaw
as the machete clanged off his riot helmet.
With Kyle distracted, the duplicate Chaselon regained his bearings
and righted himself. The doppelganger observed Jordan, floating
in midair and waiting for Hollika to strike back. Chaselon raised
his black power ring and lined up Jordan in his sights. Suddenly
Chaselon was lifted off the ground and held in a mighty bear
hug by Kilowog, who had managed to come up from behind. Kilowog's
constricting arms put tremendous pressure on the round Anti-Lantern,
but the duplicate Chaselon responded by forming a huge, black
skull in the air, which crashed in a headbutt against Kilowog's
brow. The big alien grunted in pain but did not release his
quarry.
Hollika wobbled to her feet and formed a hail of black arrows
flying upwards at Jordan, who created a large green archery
target to catch them all. Rayner kept Gardner at bay with an
emerald taser as the Vuldarian stabbed in at him as best he
could while avoiding being tagged. Kilowog shifted Chaselon
under one arm so that he could punch with his other fist as
the black skull now began to bite at him.
Without warning three black energy tendrils snapped through
the air and each one wrapped itself around the neck of a Green
Lantern. The Arisia doppelganger had regained consciousness
and now stood with fist raised and grim determination on her
delicate orange face. She held Jordan, Rayner and Kilowog fast
in inky nooses, and Hollika Rahn, Guy Gardner and Chaselon moved
in for the kill.
A split-second later the air over the bar was rent by a dimensional
rift and Ganthet, followed by John Stewart and Alan Scott, emerged.
"Man, Ganthet, you weren't kidding when you said we'd
understand when we got here," Stewart exclaimed as he stepped
onto the bar, surveying the overturned tables, fractured ceiling
panels, energy scorch marks on the wall and the seven combatants
at the heart of it all. "Guy's place was a dump before,
but now it's a warzone!"
"Yes, and our friends are in need of reinforcements,"
Scott replied, taking to the air. The cape of his Sentinel costume
flared behind him as the mystic green flames blazed from his
hands and burned through the black tendons strangling the three
heroes. The duplicate Arisia turned her attention to the newcomer,
but Scott quickly encircled her with green fire.
"John! Alan!" Kyle Rayner choked the names out as
his throat muscles relaxed and breath returned to his lungs.
"Come on, Kyle!" Hal Jordan called across the restaurant,
rubbing his own sore neck. "Let's stop making these separate
battles!" With that, Jordan willed a giant baseball bat
from his power ring.
Rayner took Jordan's meaning and created a towering green
hippie in sandals, torn jeans, mohair shirt, love beads and
John Lennon glasses. The hippie was carrying a protest sign
that read "MAKE LOVE NOT WAR." The hippie raised its
sign high and then whacked Guy Gardner solidly across the back,
sending Gardner flying.
Jordan unleashed his bat on Hollika Rahn and she too flew through
the air from the force of the hit. The aims of the Green Lanterns
were true and Hollika and Gardner collided in midair with a
loud thud. They crumpled to the ground, nearly too dazed to
move, when John Stewart unleashed a blast of emerald energy
from his vantage point atop the bar, taking Hollika and Gardner
completely out of the fight.
"Wha --?" John Stewart stared with bewilderment
at his hands, then cast a glance at Ganthet, who said nothing.
Alan Scott, meanwhile, closed the distance between himself
and Kilowog and used a burst of emerald flame to melt the black
skull emanating from Chaselon's ring. Kilowog lofted the doppelganger
Chaselon over his head and slammed its spheroid body into the
ground, caving in several floor tiles. Chaselon's eyes closed,
and Scott conjured a flaming green cyclone which engulfed Chaselon,
swept across the floor and picked up Hollika and Gardner, and
finally joined the circle of fire enclosing Arisia. The verdant
flames reformed into a cage around the four beaten villains.
Jordan lighted on the ground. "What's everyone's status?"
he asked.
"Feelin' pretty good," Kilowog answered. "Been
a while since I got the stretch the old brawlin' muscles."
"I'm okay," Rayner added, "physically, anyway.
Mentally it's like I'm still a week behind trying to figure
out exactly what's going on around here. I never got to go to
Green Lantern school."
John Stewart jumped down from the bar and Ganthet floated
to the ground. Alan Scott glided to join them. Ganthet spoke:
"What goes on, Kyle Rayner, is a great threat to this world,
and beyond. Sinestro seeks the destruction of this very universe
and bides his time only to first destroy the very memory of
the Green Lantern Corps." Ganthet looked around the circle
of heroes. "Now that you champions have been gathered,
Sinestro must be stopped before his plans may come any closer
to fruition."
"Yeah, well, too bad Guy had to go psycho on us. We could
have used his help," Rayner muttered.
"Hey, watch it, kid," Stewart warned. "Guy's
a good man, not a 'psycho'. He's obviously not in complete control
of himself right now."
"Actually, John Stewart, the truth may be somewhat closer
to what Kyle Rayner has said," Ganthet explained. "Guy
Gardner's mind is, at present, under his own control. However,
his mind has become a broken and dangerous thing, through little
fault of his own."
"But, we saw that … Chaselon … fire some kind of weapon
at Guy right before he attacked Kilowog," Jordan interjected.
"Surely that was the catalyst for his behavior …?"
"Only as the wind may be the catalyst for a rotting tree
finally collapsing under its own weight, Hal Jordan," Ganthet
continued. "Guy Gardner's mind has suffered much abuse.
He has survived the explosion of a power battery which placed
him in a catatonic state. Sinestro himself has implanted subconscious
suggestions in Guy Gardner's mind. Much of his adult life has
been consumed with fighting a war within his own ravaged psyche.
The simulacrum of Chaselon utilized a simple alpha-wave manipulation
to unleash the parts of Guy Gardner's mind which have been molded
for Sinestro's purposes." Ganthet nodded to himself, then
resumed, "Still, all is not lost for Guy Gardner. I believe
he may yet reclaim himself as the man you have all known as
an ally. If you bring him forward, we may be able to help him.
But we must be cautious."
"I'm on it," Rayner volunteered. A beam of green
energy from his ring entered the cage and enveloped Gardner.
Momentarily, Gardner was fitted with an emerald straightjacket
and rigid face mask which completely covered the lower half
of his face except for a few slats over his mouth. Gardner's
body was secured to an upright hand trolley. "Hey, Alan,
open a door for me to wheel him out," Rayner said. Scott
waved a hand at the burning cage and one side swung out. Rayner
reeled the rig holding Gardner to the middle of the floor.
"Hal Jordan and John Stewart," Ganthet said, "you
two will project yourselves into Guy Gardner's mind and instruct
him on its repair. Kyle Rayner, you must hold Guy Gardner's
physical form from struggling against us. Alan Scott, Kilowog
- be prepared for anything."
Jordan looked at Stewart. "Ready, partner?"
Stewart shrugged. "Beats a day at the office." His
eyes crackled with green energy. "Let's hit it."
Jordan nodded and raised his ring, and a green glow bathed
his face, Stewart's, and Gardner's.
Hal Jordan and John Stewart found themselves projected into
a jungle clearing. Dense foliage, which occasionally rustled
with movement of wild beasts, surrounded them. The clearing
itself seemed to have been recently used as a camp, but no one
besides Stewart and Jordan was there now.
"Guy!" Jordan yelled into the jungle. "Guy,
we're going to help you!"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Hal, thanks for asking," Stewart
said under his breath. "It's great to see you, too. Really
glad you're not dead after all."
Jordan turned to him, groping for the words, and finally settling
on "Sorry, John. It's just … I just got back, and nothing
is what it should be …"
Stewart shook his head dismissively. "Forget it, man.
Comes with the badge, I guess."
"After this is over, we'll catch up like normal people,"
Jordan offered.
Stewart smiled. "It's never over, buddy. We're not normal
people. Now let's find Guy."
Jordan nodded, and together they called out for their friend.
"Guy! GUY!"
A black dog-sized beast with six furry legs and impossibly
large teeth burst out of the undergrowth and into the clearing,
followed closely by a savage Guy Gardner, clad only in a red
loincloth.
Gardner noticed Stewart and Jordan and stopped abruptly, as
the beast disappeared again under jungle cover. Gardner's wild
eyes narrowed and his lip curled. "I'll be back to gut
you two pigs," he snarled. "As soon as I finish hunting
the beasties, I'll be back for you."
"No, Guy," Jordan said. "Those beasties, for
better or worse, they're a part of you. You'll never finish
the hunt."
Gardner eyed Jordan suspiciously. "This place - ,"
he gestured at the clearing, " - is the only place that
is mine. If I don't hunt, they'll find me here, too!"
"Guy, you're not a hunter." It was Stewart who spoke
this time, trying desperately to connect with his friend's psyche.
"You're the Warrior. You could protect yourself in any
way you want."
"He's right, Guy," Jordan pressed on. "You
could keep them at bay, far, far from here. You just have to
choose to."
Guy Gardner dropped his gaze to the clearing floor. He seemed
to wrestle with what Jordan and Stewart had just told him. He
approached the edge of the clearing, and held his hand out to
the ground. "Warrior …" he breathed aloud. Slowly,
a spear grew from the earth, and Gardner grabbed the haft and
angled it into the jungle. Gardner took a step to the left and
repeated the process. Another step, and a trident grew from
the ground to be pointed into the jungle, then a lance, then
a pike. Gardner seemed to be gaining confidence as he continued
around the perimeter of the clearing, manufacturing weapons.
By the time he returned to his starting point he was running.
Gardner stopped to survey his handiwork. Then he spread both
arms over his head and pushed outward, and the weapons began
marching into the jungle in a widening circle. The dark vegetation
gave way and the clearing increased in size, and more weapons
sprang forth to join the ranks. Swords and daggers, maces and
morning-stars, crossbows, clubs and cat-o-nine-tails. The tide
of weaponry continued to push relentlessly outward, and soon
Stewart and Jordan could see blue sky above where previously
the jungle canopy had obscured the light. Still the ranks swelled
higher, scimitars and katana and battle-axes joined by catapults
and cannons, blunderbusses and battering rams met with howitzers
and grenade launchers, a monstrous advancing wall composed of
every conceivable weapon from stone knives to laser turrets.
Before long the jungle had been erased, and all around the three
men stretched an expansive, rolling countryside.
"I think that marks the territory in here a little better,"
Gardner said smugly, now returned to his normal apparel as well.
"I'd say so," Jordan concurred. He extended his
hand to Gardner. "Let's get back to the real world."
The green glow from Jordan's power ring faded and Scott, Rayner
and Kilowog looked at him expectantly. Jordan inclined his head
toward Gardner, who was beginning to regain consciousness.
"Whuu … hey, what the …?" Gardner struggled briefly
against his bonds, then locked eyes with Rayner. "Cute,
kid, real cute. But I think you can ditch the Hannibal Lecter
bit now. I ain't gonna eat ya."
Rayner could see that the madness was gone from Gardner's
eyes, and the restraints evaporated at his mental command.
"You are feeling well, Guy Gardner?" Ganthet inquired.
"Yeah, yeah, best I've felt in I don't know how long,
and now …" Gardner fell silent as he began to flex his
arms, and looked at each of his hands with confusion.
"I would not try too hard to manifest your Vuldarian
powers, Guy Gardner," Ganthet said gravely. "You have
consumed them mentally to regain your freedom from Sinestro's
manipulations. They are no longer yours physically. To reverse
that, you would risk undoing the repair you have made to your
mind."
Gardner chuckled mirthlessly. "Figures. One more lump
I owe Sinestro. Well, it's not like I never used a Qwardian
power ing before. I'll just grab one off a wannabe. They in
that cage?"
Alan Scott started to respond affirmatively but as the group
turned to the cage they could see it was empty.
"Sinestro musta 'ported those poozers back to Qward while
we were waitin' for Guy to get fixed!" Kilowog groaned.
"That is inconsequential," Ganthet insisted. "Sinestro
himself must be stopped. We must all now make haste for the
one portal on this planet between ours and the anti-matter universe."
"Coast City. Let's go!" Jordan exclaimed. Moments
later, seven figures in glowing green streaked westward out
of Las Vegas into the night.
EPILOGUE
The duplicate Chaselon, Hollika Rahn and Arisia knelt before
the Korugarian known as Sinestro. He paced before them, speaking
with the restrained rage of an overtaxed teacher of delinquents.
"Jordan has returned … and you have failed to stop him.
This is not behavior becoming of MY Corps," Sinestro hissed.
"A thousand pardons, Master," the doppelganger Hollika
responded.
"You shall be pardoned when my wishes are carried out!"
Sinestro screamed. "And you shall have your chance immediately.
Touch your rings to the main power battery of Qward," he
gestured to the black monolith behind him, "and you may
yet redeem yourselves."
The three false Lanterns hurried to obey. As their rings made
contact to recharge, Sinestro smiled wickedly. Eldritch energy
surged into the black rings and up the arms of Sinestro's puppets,
consuming them completely. Seconds later all that remained were
two charred skeletons wearing black power rings and a boiling
puddle of whitish liquid in which one sizzling robot limb bore
its own black ring.
"So ends the disappointment of Sinestro," the Korugarian
nodded to himself. He kicked viciously at the skeletons, scattering
their bones throughout the chamber.
The Anti-Green Lantern Corps would be a useful tool in his
conquest through the positive universe, Sinestro knew. But the
elimination of Jordan and his band of fools was necessary first,
and recreations of Green Lanterns were no match for the Guardians'
favorite son. A different force would be required, Sinestro
realized. A powerful, ruthless, unstoppable force.
"Enter the Crime Syndicate," Sinestro
grinned maliciously, "and exit Hal Jordan, once and for
all!"
TO BE CONTINUED!!!!
NEXT ISSUE: Hal Jordan! Kyle Rayner!
Alan Scott! John Stewart! Guy Gardner! Kilowog! VERSUS Ultraman!
Superwoman! Power Ring! Johnny Quick! Owlman! Run for your life!!!
