Hal Jordan, Kilowog, Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner
aimed their power rings at the mountainside surrounding the
cave. Within the cave was the portal that connected the Earth
to the anti-matter universe of Qward, and the Green Lanterns
were sealing its entrance. Two giant green jackhammers knocked
loose fragments from the rock face above the cave, courtesy
of Kilowog and Jordan and their power rings. Gardner had created
an oversized yellow pickaxe that was knocking in the sides of
the cave entrance. From Rayner’s ring emanated a long, green
brontosaurus, with a small canopy on its back under which a
caveman sat operating a winch. The head of the brontosaurus
was buried in the mountain rock under the entrance to the cave,
and when the caveman wound the winch the dinosaur lifted its
head and pushed rocks up the mountainside.
When the mouth of the cave was completely filled
with stones, Alan Scott flew near the face of the mountain and
blasted the pile with waves of jade fire. The rock melted and
fused, leaving the mountainside sheer and smooth. With the cave
successfully and hopefully permanently blocked off, the five
heroes flew away to Coast City Memorial Park.
"Man, the Guardians sure hurried off fast
when we got back here, didn’t they?" Rayner asked as he
and his companions sailed through the air.
"Nothin’ new there," Kilowog replied.
"They got Guardian business to attend to now."
"Yeah, for a bunch of immortals, the Guardians
aren’t long on patience," Gardner added. "I’m glad
they took John with ‘em, though. They tend to lose perspective
on their own."
"So you think this is it?" Rayner
pressed. "The restarting of the Corps?"
"I don’t know," Jordan answered, adding
after a moment’s thought, "I certainly hope so."
"Whatever it is, it has more to do with
you space-faring types than with me," Scott interjected.
"I’m glad to have lended my hand in stopping Sinestro,
but I think it’s about time I headed for home. It’s a long flight
back to Gotham City from here. I’m sure Molly is wondering what
I’ve been up to."
"Alan, thanks," Jordan said with deep
gratitude. "Even calling yourself Sentinel, you’re one
of the best Green Lanterns around. Take care."
"I’m sure we’ll see each other again, Hal,
sooner or later. Guy, Kilowog, Kyle – until next time."
With a wave of his hand, Alan Scott split off from the formation
and began to fly east. The four remaining Lanterns flew south
toward Memorial Park in silence.
Gardner was the first to break the quiet. "If
the Corps is starting up again, I wonder what Sector I’ll get
assigned to," Gardner pondered aloud. "I hope it’s
not too far away from Earth … although Rolvac is kinda pretty
this time of year."
Rayner glanced at Gardner with puzzlement. "Guy,
what are you talking about?"
"You know, the rules," Gardner answered
dismissively. "The way the Guardians run the Corps. There’s
only one Green Lantern per sector, spread out over the whole
universe. Guess that’s how the little blue guys get the most
bang for their buck. And I figure they’ll let Hal have 2814
– and Earth – since he’s got seniority and all." Gardner
looked at Rayner’s astonished expression and changed his tone
to almost believable reassurance. "I guess they might let
you stay on Earth, Kyle. Doesn’t hurt to ask, at least."
"Knock it off, Guy," Jordan scolded.
"Nobody knows what the Guardians are planning on doing.
And I’m sure no one will have to go anywhere they don’t want
to go." Kilowog added his own reprimand with a punch to
Gardner’s shoulder.
Rayner appreciated Jordan’s rebuttal of Gardner,
but was still unsettled as the foursome arrived at Coast City
Memorial park and alighted on the ground, joining the sixteen
other Lanterns who had been freed from Sinestro’s cloning laboratory.
"John and the Guardians haven’t returned
from their deliberations yet?" Jordan asked the assembled
aliens.
"No, Hal Jordan," Galius Zed answered,
waddling forward on his three stubby legs. "We have not
heard from nor seen them since we returned to your world."
Medphyll was admiringly looking around the park
with one wide eye, taking in the meticulous lawns, lush beds
of flowers and towering trees. "This is a wondrous area
of your planet," he sighed appreciatively. "I could
almost feel at home here." Nearby, Rot Lop Fan seemed to
nod in agreement as he moved his wide pale head in time with
the birdsongs in the air.
"Well, make yourselves at home, there’s
no telling how long the Guardians will be. Meanwhile, I’ve got
some matters to take care of in Los Angeles. I’ll be back in
a little while. Kilowog, if I’m not here when the Guardians
come out of seclusion, call me through the ring, all right?"
"You bet," Kilowog nodded.
"Hey, we are on the Left Coast, aren’t
we?" Rayner realized. "I should make a social call
while I’m out here, too. Want some company up to L.A., Hal?"
"Sure, let’s go," Jordan agreed as
the two of them rose into the air.
"How ‘bout you, Guy? Got anywhere y’need
t’go?" Kilowog asked. Gardner had become strangely quiet
since landing in the Park.
"Maybe. I’m just gonna walk around a bit
right now, I think." Gardner headed on foot to the ocean
side of Memorial Park. He ambled through groves of trees and
finally came to the edge of the sheer cliff that dropped to
the Pacific below. A short distance from the shore, the Eternal
Flame burned in its granite sconce in memoriam of the lives
lost when Coast City was destroyed. As Gardner stared into the
torch’s flames, a golden light shone from his power ring, coalescing
in the form of a beautiful young woman. Gardner looked away
from the Eternal Flame and into the eyes of the energy construct.
"I miss you, Kari Limbo," he said,
mostly to himself. "I miss you all the time. It just ain’t
fair."
Gardner willed the construct of Kari Limbo to
fly over the edge of the cliff, down to the rocky shore below.
The construct complied, and returned with a large white boulder
at Gardner’s mental command, placing it on the ground at the
cliff’s edge. With a last, long look at the yellow representation
of his departed love, Guy willed it to evaporate. He then turned
his ring on the immense white stone and began chiseling an inscription.
Kyle Rayner landed on the rooftop of the apartment
building and willed his Green Lantern costume away into nothingness,
revealing his street clothes underneath. Rayner approached the
door to the main building staircase, found it locked, and used
an energy projection key to open it. He jogged down a few flights
of stairs, let himself into a hallway on the fifteenth floor,
and trotted down the hall until he reached 1523. He knocked
loudly on the door.
It opened an inch or two, a security chain hanging
between the wall and the door’s edge. A middle-aged woman peered
through the crack in the doorframe, gasped, and shut the door.
Rayner could hear the chain being slipped out of the doorplate,
and when the door opened wide the woman was positively beaming,
holding her arms open wide. "Kyle!" she said happily.
Rayner allowed himself to be folded into the
woman’s embrace as he entered the apartment. "Hi, Mom,"
he said, smiling.
Hal Jordan skimmed the rooftops of the business
district of Los Angeles with a light heart. Not everything had
gone exactly as he had hoped it would in Qward, but in all reality
things had probably gone better than he had a right to expect.
Sinestro was still at large, but his invasion had been thwarted,
his political power had been undermined. The Guardians and many
Green Lanterns had been rescued as well. And now he was on his
way to see one very beautiful owner of an aircraft company.
A shrill ringing in the air instantly turned
on all of Jordan’s battle senses. He scanned the streets below
and found the source of the piercing noise: a bank with alarm
bells sounding off. From his elevation Jordan could see police
cruisers with sirens wailing making their way through town,
but the Green Lantern knew he could arrive on the scene faster.
Jordan dove for the bank.
Before Jordan’s feet could touch the sidewalk
in front of Golden State Savings, the glass doors exploded outward.
Jordan did not flinch as his emerald forcefield deflected the
flying bits of broken glass, and he was able to see a creature
emerging from within the bank. It was a Chinese dragon, dark
blue scaled body with an indigo mane of hair fluttering wildly.
From its massive leonine jaws hung several canvass moneybags.
The dragon spied Jordan in its path, and swatted a talon-tipped
paw at him.
Jordan flew backwards a few feet to avoid the
blow. He raised his ring and created a long emerald lance that
plunged toward the creature’s heart. The energy construct passed
through the dragon with no effect.
The dragon tossed the moneybags aside, then
opened its jaws wide and lunged at Jordan. Jordan willed a beam
of energy out of his power ring with an open green hand at the
end. The beam raced down the street to a manhole, the hand pried
the manhole cover loose, and the beam returned just in time
to wedge the steel disc between the dragon’s fangs. With the
dragon momentarily distracted, Jordan looked around for another
weapon. Farther down the street he saw a PacBell truck with
a crew of men. Jordan flew over to them.
"Mind if I borrow some cable, guys?"
Jordan asked, pointing at a large wooden spool of telephone
wire on the back of the truck.
"Sure, Green Lantern, go ahead!" the
crew leader responded.
"Thanks," Jordan replied. A tremendous
emerald sewing needle appeared in the air above Jordan’s power
ring, and Jordan quickly knotted an end of the cable around
the eye of the needle. Jordan then aimed his ring at the dragon
and sent the needle hurtling towards it, just as the dragon
dislodged the manhole cover from between its teeth. With wire
uncoiling in its trail, the needle ran loops around and around
the dragon’s body. The dragon snapped its jaws at the needle
but was unable to catch it, and soon the dragon was completely
wrapped in the heavy insulated cable. It gave an angry roar,
and then vanished, letting the loops of telephone wire fall
to the street.
Jordan glided over to the bank, scooped up the
canvas moneybags, and flew in through the front door. A few
tellers peeked over the edge of their tills and saw him enter;
one woman stood up straight at the sight of the emerald gladiator.
"Green Lantern!" she cried with relief.
"I’d like to make a deposit, ma’am,"
Jordan smiled at the teller as he dropped the moneybags on the
counter. "But I’m afraid I don’t have an account here."
Jordan turned and flew out into the street once more.
"So that’s it in a nutshell, Mom,"
Kyle Rayner said after pausing to take another sip from his
glass of iced tea. "The good news is the universe is about
to get a whole lot safer thanks to the return of its greatest
police force. The bad news is, they might want me to walk a
beat about a bazillion lightyears away."
"Kyle, no one can make you do anything
you don’t want to do," Maura Rayner told him gently. "We
all make our own choices in life."
"I know," the young Green Lantern
sighed with exasperation, throwing his head back against the
couch and staring up at the ceiling. "They can’t force
me out to the East Bumfudge Galaxy. I could just tell them to
take the ring back and shove it. But then I wouldn’t be Green
Lantern anymore …" Kyle Rayner shook his head slowly. "I
don’t know if I’m prepared to give that up. It might not be
so bad out there. Wally could probably come visit me once in
a while, he gets around a lot …"
Maura stood up and crossed the room to her son,
kneeling beside him and putting her hands on his knee. "Kyle,
I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like … being Green
Lantern. The responsibility you carry, the places you’ve been
and the things you’ve seen and done. It’s beyond me. All that
I know is that I am very proud of you … just like I always have
been. And I know you’ll make the right decision when the time
comes."
Kyle Rayner looked fondly at his mother. "Thanks,
Mom," he said.
"And don’t even think about making me a
consideration in your decision," Maura Rayner continued.
"Whether you’re in this galaxy or another, I know you still
won’t visit your mother very often at all."
"Ooooh, ouch. Had to bring out the guilt
gun, din’tcha Mom?"
"Well, I’m not sure they’ll even have phones
in the East Bumfudge Galaxy. I have to get my shots in now."
Maura and Kyle Rayner laughed together.
Hal Jordan flew away from Golden State Savings
slowly, with his ring bathing the city blocks around him in
a nearly invisible green light. He was searching for the person
responsible for the robbery attempt, and believed he knew the
party in question.
A fantastic beast, immune to the power of
my ring, that can disappear at will, and engages in petty crime,
Jordan repeated the facts to himself. All
signs point towards …
"Tarrant!" Jordan shouted, as his
ring indicated he had found his quarry. A man in a navy peacoat
and jeans, hurrying through an alley, turned around at the sound
of his name. He saw Jordan hovering overhead and held both his
hands up at chest level, showing them empty.
"GL, whatever you’re thinkin’, you got
it all wrong. You don’t know what’s goin’ on," Abel Tarrant
insisted loudly.
"Really?" Jordan scoffed. "Because
I’m thinking that the Tattooed Man has returned to a life of
crime. And since I just stopped a bank robbery being committed
by one of your living tattoos, I’d say I’ve got a pretty good
handle on what’s going on."
"I don’t wanna fight you, GL," Tarrant
warned gravely, unbuttoning the front of his coat.
"Fine, then just surrender and I’ll take
you to the police," Jordan countered.
"I ain’t the one who robbed the bank!"
Tarrant screamed, touching a hand to his chest and then flinging
it at Jordan. A tattoo of a fiery pinwheel was animated and
spun through the air at Jordan. Tarrant turned on his heel and
began to run
Jordan ducked under the flaming wheel and fired
an emerald energy beam at Tarrant’s feet, locking them together
in a solid green band and tripping Tarrant. Tarrant broke his
own fall with his hands and rolled himself over onto his back,
glaring at Jordan. The distraction caused Tarrant to lose his
concentration, and the animated tattoo vanished from the air.
Jordan flew down and landed beside Tarrant.
"Ready to come along quietly now? I don’t want to be any
harder on you than I have to be."
Tarrant nodded glumly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Jordan retracted the energy binding Tarrant’s feet, and Tarrant
stood up. He brushed some dirt off his jeans, as well as his
sleeves, and as he wiped his hand down one arm he lashed out
at Jordan. This time the tattoo was of a massive pirate’s treasure
chest, filled with dubloons and jewels, along with a cutlass-wielding
pirate’s skeleton holding the lid half-open. The weighty animated
tattoo struck Jordan in the midsection, knocking him down, and
came to rest across his ribs, pinning him to the alley floor.
Jordan pushed on the heavy chest with both hands, knowing his
ring would be unable to affect the tattoo.
Tarrant started away again, then stopped himself.
He looked back at Jordan, took off his peacoat, and draped it
over the Green Lantern’s ring hand. Then he sprinted down the
alley, turned a corner, and was gone.
Jordan wasted little time, pulling Tarrant’s
coat underneath the chest and spreading it along the bottom
of it as best he could. With the material between the animated
tattoo and his ring, Jordan was able to create a column of green
force pushing up on the coat, which in turn pushed up on the
pirate’s chest. The treasure chest flew off Jordan and crashed
into the alley wall. Jordan rose into the air and took a moment
to get his breath back.
Tarrant knew I’d be able to use his coat
to free myself, Jordan thought. He
deliberately helped me out. He didn’t want me permanently out,
he just wanted enough time to get away. What is going on here?
Jordan decided not to follow Tarrant, at least
not until he had more time to think through exactly what the
Tattooed Man might be up to. In the mean time, he hoped he still
had enough time to catch Carol in the LA office of Ferris Aircraft.
He flew off.
A woman standing on a nearby rooftop watched
the Green Lantern speed away through the air. "That was
too close," she said to herself. "Green Lantern’s
presence complicates things. I need the Tattooed Man at large
a little while longer if he’s to take the fall for everything
I have planned. All I need is for one lousy superhero to ruin
everything."
Maura and Kyle Rayner exited the elevator on
the ground floor of her apartment building, arm in arm. Mother
had insisted on walking son to the door, and he hadn’t had the
heart to tell her it would be easier to leave by the rooftop.
They descended the small stairway to the foyer, and Kyle Rayner
put both his arms around Maura.
"It was so good to see you, Mom,"
he said. "I know I’m rotten about keeping in touch, and
this visit seems like it was only because I was in the neighborhood
and because I had a problem to dump on you. But I’m glad I came,
and I hope you are too."
"Of course I am, honey," Maura Rayner
assured him. "I’m always here for you, whatever your reasons
for seeing me. Maybe one of these days I’ll even make it out
to New York and see your apartment."
"If I’m in New York and not another solar
system," he sighed.
She patted the side of her son’s face. "Just
let me know," she said.
"You got it. Love you, ma," he said,
kissing her cheek.
"I love you, too, Kyle," she responded.
He walked out the front door of the building, and she waved
to him from the foyer steps as he left.
Rayner walked around the corner of the building
and entered an alley, and his ring responded to his thoughts
by transforming his street clothes once again into the black
and green costume he wore as Green Lantern. Just as he was about
to take to the air, Rayner realized a man was about to run into
him, and sidestepped the near-collision.
Abel Tarrant realized he had just run past Green
Lantern and froze in his tracks. "Aw, no, not you, too!"
he moaned, raising his fists defensively. "Why won’t you
guys believe me?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy,"
Rayner appealed to the man before him. "Abel? I haven’t
seen you since Hal’s funeral … which I really need to stop talking
about," he corrected himself under his breath, "because
Hal’s not dead …"
"Yeah, I know," the Tattooed Man grimaced.
"I just, er, ran into him, too."
"And I take it that it didn’t go well?
Why not?"
"He thought I was robbing a bank,"
Tarrant explained, "but it wasn’t me! There’s this girl
with powers like mine, she even calls herself Tattoo, and I
think she’s tryin’ to set me up. I was this close to catchin’
her and takin’ her down myself, when GL showed up lookin’ to
bring me in. I thought I had gotten away, and now here you are
…" Tarrant looked deeply into Rayner’s eyes. "Look,
man, you gotta believe me. I was a small-time crook who stumbled
across some super-ink and shot it all into my skin and tried
to be a big-time bad guy. But I’m not any of those things right
now. Now I just wanna be Abel Tarrant. I even tried goin’ back
in time to warn myself not to do all the dumb things I did.
But I did ‘em anyway. Now I just want a peaceful future. And
I can’t have that as long as this Tattoo chick keeps trying
to frame me. And I definitely can’t if you GLs are gonna keep
hounding me."
"Hey, Abel, I understand," Rayner
said. He could see himself in the Tattooed Man’s position. In
groups like the JLA or the Corps, who usually went after maniacs
and despots like Starbreaker or Sinestro, it was easy to forget
how thin a line separated the lucky people who were dealt the
good hands from the unfortunates who got tangled in one bad
situation after another. But before him now stood just such
an unfortunate man, trying to do the best he could after finally
collecting a lifetime of wisdom.
"You understand?" Tarrant asked doubtfully.
"I think so. And I believe you. Maybe we
can find this woman together. Deal?" Rayner offered.
Tarrant smiled a little. "All right. Let’s
do it."
"Don’t let go of me." Carol Ferris
spoke the words softly as Hal Jordan held her close, standing
in her private office. He had knocked on the large window a
minute before, used the ring to phase through the wall of the
building, and willed away the mask on his face as Carol came
rushing into his arms. "Oh please don’t ever let go."
Jordan stroked her long black hair gently. "Hello
to you, too, gorgeous."
"I can’t believe you’re really here. Really
back. We all thought we’d lost you, and now you … you …"
She let it go, as they both knew there were no words which could
capture the years and years of knowing each other which came
to bear on this moment in time.
"Carol," Jordan murmured with his
lips against her head, "I came here to tell you something
very important." She looked up into his eyes expectantly,
and Jordan continued, "I love you, Carol. And I will always
come back for you, no matter what. I should have told you that
a long a time ago, so that you wouldn’t have worried when everyone
else thought I was gone. Now you know, though; I will always
come back for you. Always."
Carol Ferris took a step back, concern clouding
her features. "Don’t tell me you’re leaving again."
"I don’t know," Jordan admitted. "The
Corps is back, a small part of it at least, but that will probably
be a seed that gives rise to the whole thing. The Guardians
are deciding what to do about it, and it’s hard to know what
they’ll say in the end. I’ve been Earth’s Green Lantern in the
past, but I know that … the current Green Lantern has been doing
a fine job, and perhaps the Guardians won’t want to disrupt
that."
"So you’d just go wherever they sent you,
is that it?" she demanded.
"Carol," Jordan pleaded, "not
forever. Just to do what needs to be done. And I will always
come back for you, I told you."
"When, Hal? When? When you’re 92 years
old and no good to them anymore, we can finally enjoy our twilight
weeks together?"
"Carol …" he tried again, but Carol
crossed her arms and turned away from him. Just then a blaring
klaxon could be heard nearby, and Jordan reflexively turned
to the window, re-generating his mask from his power ring. He
stopped himself, hesitant, and took a step towards Carol.
"Just go," she said icily. "I
know it’s a very important job, being a superhero." She
waited a moment for his reaction, then turned to look at him,
and caught a fleeting glimpse of him flying out through a green
phase-portal in the wall.
"Very important to you, anyway," she
said to the empty office.
Kyle Rayner, with the Tattooed Man in tow, flew
toward the sound of the klaxons. As they neared the source,
another emerald streak could be seen traversing the sky. It
converged on their location and Hal Jordan spoke to Rayner as
he came to a stop beside them.
"Good work, Kyle. I see you managed to
apprehend Tarrant. I must be getting old and soft."
"Hal, Abel isn’t ‘apprehended’," Rayner
informed his fellow Green Lantern. "He’s with me to help."
"Kyle!" Jordan expressed his shock.
"You can’t be serious! He’s a criminal – a former Injustice
Gang member, no less – and his M.O. matches the one used at
a robbery I stopped just before I found him earlier. I’m not
saying he doesn’t deserve a fair trial, but I’m reasonably sure
he’s our man."
"But he says he didn’t do it," Rayner
responded. "And I believe him."
"Kyle, look," Jordan went on, "I’m
sure you have the best of intentions, and I’m proud of you for
it, really. But you’ve got to realize that taking his word on
this is just –"
"Hal, let me ask you something," Kyle
interrupted. "When did those bank alarms start going off?
‘Cause Abel’s been with me for the past twenty minutes."
Jordan looked at Rayner stone-faced. "Just
a couple of minutes ago."
"Which means it wasn’t Abel. Now if it’s
just some run of the mill bank robbers down there, maybe there’s
still something to debate. But if it’s someone else’s tattoos
running amok, will you believe him then?"
Jordan took a deep breath to calm himself. "Fine.
Follow me." He was off in a flash of green light.
"Thanks, man," Tarrant said to Rayner.
"Let’s just hope that turns out to be your
girl down there," Rayner said, as he flew after Jordan.
Rayner arrived in front of the Pacific Trust
Bank and set Tarrant on the ground. Jordan was nowhere to be
seen. Screams could be heard within the bank, and Rayner headed
for the door. Before he could reach it, a huge black panther
pushed its way out, with moneybags clenched in its teeth. The
beast caught sight of Rayner, dropped the bags and pounced on
the Green Lantern with a fierce roar.
Tarrant moved up to help and saw the next living
tattoo emerge from the bank, a ten-foot long two-headed snake.
The creature slithered through the door and opened both its
mouths wide, revealing long, glistening fangs. Without hesitation
Tarrant touched and animated two of the eagle tattoos on his
forearms. The birds came to life and swooped upon the snake,
evading its bite and clawing at its hide with their talons.
While the eagles dove and rose, drawing the attention of the
striking snake’s heads, Tarrant animated another tattoo, this
one of a double-headed axe. It took tremendous concentration
to control the weapon as well as the eagles, but Tarrant focused
as best he could and ran in between the snake’s heads. With
two blows he severed the heads, which caused the entire tattoo
to disappear. Tarrant turned to help Rayner as the eagles faded
from sight.
Rayner had the panther contained within a gigantic
green pet-carrier. The great cat tattoo slashed angrily at the
slatted windows with its claws, but to no effect. Without warning,
the growling and hissing ceased, and Rayner swung open the gate
of the pet-carrier. The panther, too, had disappeared. Rayner
and Tarrant proceeded into the bank to see if any more tattoos
remained behind, but found the lobby empty. They walked back
outside in time to see Jordan alighting on the street, with
a young woman in the air above him, hanging from a set of emerald
manacles with a rigid bar between them. She wore cutoff jean
shorts and a red tanktop under a black trenchcoat. Her legs
and forearms bore several tattoos, and a blue and indigo Chinese
dragon tattoo twined across her left collarbone.
"I owe you both an apology," Jordan
said. "Since my ring isn’t effective against the tattoos,
I took a chance on scoping out the entire area, and I found
her on the roof across the street. I’m sorry for not believing
you sooner."
"No harm done, I guess," Rayner said.
Suddenly a shot rang out, and Jordan and Rayner
both instantly surrounded the group with a bubble of green energy.
A bullet ricocheted off the bubble; the spot where it impacted
was inches away from the young woman’s head. Jordan and Rayner
scanned the rooftops in the direction from which the shot had
been fired, and saw a figure disappearing over the far side
of the building.
"What was that about?" Rayner wondered
aloud.
"I think this babe’s got a contract out
on her," Tarrant answered. "I heard through the grapevine
that a team of crooks did a job for Lex Luthor, screwed up and
never got paid. Folks think Luthor’s trying to make sure they
don’t ever come lookin’ to collect."
"If you really are going straight, you’re
going to have to stop listening to that grapevine, you know,"
Jordan informed Tarrant.
"Believe me, GL, that’s fine with me,"
Tarrant assured him.
"You told me while we were looking for
her that you used to have a tattoo parlor in New York,"
Rayner said to Tarrant. "I’m headed back there soon, maybe
I could give you a lift, help you get back on your feet …?"
"Hey, that’d be pretty cool," Tarrant
agreed.
The sirens of police cars grew louder as they
approached the scene of the attempted robbery. "All right,"
Jordan said, "we turn this girl over to the police, and
then we have one more stop to make before you can go back to
New York."
Once again the Green Lanterns were assembled
in Coast City Memorial Park. There was minimal conversation,
as the former members of the Corps and Kyle Rayner awaited the
return of the Guardians. Finally, they began to descend from
the sky above, from the near-orbital heights at which their
conference had taken place. John Stewart led the way, and the
Oans followed behind him, all glowing in emerald auras.
They landed on the grass. John Stewart cast
one glance back at the Guardians, then faced the Green Lanterns.
"I’ve been asked to speak on the Guardians’ behalf,"
Stewart began. "And I want you all to hear me well from
the outset. I’ve been asked, not commanded. The Guardians have
decided not to command the Green Lantern Corps. They would like
to see a partnership grow between themselves and their agents.
They know that they have flaws just like any of us, and that
makes us all equals. Maybe not in terms of power levels, but
in every sense that truly matters. Equals in the sense that
we need each other, and should work together, not one for the
other. It may not be easy at first to do things in a radically
new way, but that’s what I’m here for. My Guardian powers seem
to be returning, and I will be the official liaison between
the Corps and the Guardians, until that function becomes no
longer necessary.
"So, the Guardians have prepared a set
of … recommendations. They are not commands. They are suggestions
and requests. You will be asked if they sit well with you or
not. You can push back on any or all of them." Stewart
looked each and every Green Lantern in the eye, one after the
other.
"Don’t keep us in suspense, John,"
Hollika Rahn prodded. "Tell us."
Stewart smiled. "Well, first of all, obviously,
the Guardians would like to reform the Green Lantern Corps."
A murmur of approval rippled through the Green Lanterns, and
Stewart continued, "If there’s anyone who doesn’t want
to be a Green Lantern, just let us know. But you are all invited
to be members of the Corps."
No one declined. Stewart went on, "For
the moment, the Corps will be much more limited in size than
it has been in the past. All of us will help to decide how to
grow the Corps to best protect our universe – to what size and
at what rate. We will learn by doing, finding what works and
what doesn’t. You will have freedom to patrol as you see fit,
until such time as we all agree on the standards of this Corps."
Stewart turned to Kilowog, and said, "Kilowog,
the Guardians would like to ask you to resume your position
as trainer of new recruits to the Corps. Do you accept?"
"Shoot, yeah," Kilowog smiled broadly.
Stewart nodded, and turned to Guy Gardner. "Guy,
you have at your disposal a yellow power ring, one of the most
effective weapons ever wielded against the Green Lantern Corps
for exploiting the rings’ inherent weakness."
"Yeah, so?" Gardner asked truculently.
"So the Guardians would like to ask you
to take a special position as Sergeant at Arms for the Honor
Guard. Should any Green Lantern become corrupted and it become
necessary to forcibly strip them of their power ring, the responsibility
to do so would fall on you."
Gardner stared at Stewart and the Guardians
in shock for a moment, then laughed. "The cosmic repo man,
huh? Sounds like a blast. I’m in."
Stewart turned next to Hal Jordan. "Hal,
the Guardians have long respected your leadership abilities
within the Corps. They would like to ask you to once again demonstrate
your exceptional leadership, by spearheading the initial organization
of this Corps, and by leading the first recruitment efforts.
Do you accept?"
"Of course," Jordan said.
"Good," Stewart said. "You’ll
also be the Green Lantern of Earth. The Guardians wanted to
establish that from the outset."
Jordan nodded, and Kyle Rayner felt his heart
sink. He wondered if there was anyplace in the universe where
they had coffee like Radu’s.
"Kyle," Stewart said, "the Guardians
have long been somewhat exclusionary in handling their affairs,
discouraging cooperation between the Corps and other groups.
But they would like to see that change. They wish to cooperate
with those groups of heroes which serve the same ends of justice
and peace in the universe. And if those groups will have a Green
Lantern in the ranks, so much the better. Since you are the
Green Lantern of the JLA, the Guardians see no reason to even
suggest changing that. But to make it official, will you accept
the position of Corps representative in the JLA?"
Rayner looked at Stewart in disbelief. "You
mean I don’t have to go anywhere? I can stay in my apartment?"
Stewart cocked his head slightly in confusion,
but smiled. "As long as you make rent every month, sure."
"Whew," Rayner said. "Sounds
great."
"I think that takes care of all the official
business. The Guardians will create rings and batteries for
those of you currently without them, as soon as they take care
of their current priority – construction of a new Guardian citadel."
"Where will that be?" Stel asked.
"John Stewart – thank you," one of
the Guardians said, stepping forward. "You have spoken
well, but allow us to answer." The Guardian surveyed the
assembled heroes. "The destruction of Oa was most unfortunate.
We hope it may be retrieved somehow, recreated over time. But
for now – with the permission of the Green Lanterns of Earth
– we have chosen this very spot, this Coast City Memorial Park,
as the site of the new Guardian citadel."
Jordan and Rayner looked at each other, nodding
agreement to one another. "By all means," Jordan said
to the Guardian.
"Excellent. We shall begin at once,"
the Guardian said.
"Well, that’s about everything, huh?"
Gardner said, rubbing his hands together. "I think I gotta
get me back Warrior’s. See if Ganthet’s giving Lead too much
trouble."
"Whoa, Ganthet, I almost forgot!"
Rayner said, slapping his forehead. "I want to see how
the guy’s doing, too. Mind if I tag along on my way back to
New York, Guy?"
"No problemo," Gardner replied.
Rayner remembered Tarrant, packing his things
back in L.A. "Can I bring a friend?"
"Sure, why not, let’s make it a party.
The Corps is back! Anyone else want to celebrate with some free
beer, compliments of the best dive in Vegas?" Gardner offered
to his fellow Lanterns. Gardner walked over to Voz and punched
the hunchbacked bear on his furry arm. "Come on, big boy,
you know you wanna."
"All right, all right," Voz growled
back.
"I would like to join you as well,"
Rot Lop Fan said.
"The more the merrier," Gardner agreed.
"’Cuz the Corps is back!" He knew he had already said
as much; it just felt so good he had to say it again.
