Issue #214 FDC presents “GREEN NOISE - Part 1” by TJ Burns and Dale Glaser

Rot Lop Fan screamed. It was an inhuman, unearthly scream, since the Green Lantern from the Obsidian Deeps was neither human nor a creature of Earth. The scream vibrated with the alien timbre of Rot Lop Fan's silicone vocal cords, resonating outward from his white, dome-shaped head. Yet despite everything unfamiliar about the pitch and warble of the sound, it was recognizable for exactly what it was: a scream of pain. "You treat our guest too roughly," Bito Wladon admonished his son as Rot Lop Fan's agonized howl subsided. "I do not wish to see the Green Lantern damaged unnecessarily … or prematurely." Josef Wladon removed his hand from the mechanism that tightened the restraints around Rot Lop Fan's limbs, but did not loosen the Green Lantern's bonds. "He'll live," the red-headed young man said truculently. The two men who had borne the mantle of Sonar regarded their prisoner. Flexible steel cables, painted yellow, held Rot Lop Fan down on a similarly colored slab of metal. Needle-pointed tubes had been inserted in the Green Lantern's arms and legs, which ran along the ground to ominous racks of fluid-filled vials, while electrode wires connected Rot Lop Fan's head to an aging computer mainframe. The room itself was windowless and dungeon-like, medieval except for the high-tech apparatus which imprisoned Rot Lop Fan. The elder Sonar rolled Rot Lop Fan's power ring between his thumb and index finger, while thoughtfully stroking his dark goatee with his other hand. He marveled at the ease with which he and his son had captured this Green Lantern, overwhelming him after a battle with some kind of spacecraft left Rot Lop Fan distracted and weakened.* Sonar savored the irony of using the weapon of the Green Lantern Corps, the weapon of his greatest enemy, to finally achieve all that a long and bitter life had previously denied him. (In issue #212 - DG/TJB) "I still say we should head for the States and tear up a few of their cities, rather than wait for anyone to come to us," the younger Sonar insisted. He was a strikingly different figure than his father: clad only in brown pants and boots while his father was draped in a red, yellow and blue royal military uniform; rippled with muscles interrupted by exposed circuitry while his sire was of slighter build, and wholly flesh and blood. Only two traits were shared by the two generations of Sonars - ice blue eyes, and the arrogant bearing of men who expected to be regarded as natural rulers. That expectation was clear in every word the younger Sonar spoke. "No, Josef," the father answered, matching his son's level of inborn self-certainty, "Modora is where we shall make our stand. For the pride of our homeland, we will indeed bring the Green Lanterns to us … and we will not have to wait long. And in order to use the powers of one of their own against them," the elder Sonar grinned voraciously at the power ring he held, "we must maintain absolute control over the one who wields it. We stand a far greater chance of losing that control if we try to carry that creature around with us in order to attack the American cities. Here, in my stronghold, the Green Lantern will remain inviolate in his servitude." The younger Sonar stared back at his father angrily, but said nothing. The father sighed and continued, a trifle more gently, "I know that I was not able to instill the values befitting my heir in you when you were growing up, Josef. But now you must trust me to know what is best. Trust me, and perhaps someday I can make up for your childhood …" "You know I'm not here to let you play 'daddy'," the son batted his father's words away. "I came home to Modora to take from you only what I needed to be strong enough to face down Green Lantern once and for all. You were lucky this Green Lantern showed up throwing sound constructs around while you were trying to convince me that we should work together. I don't trust you now, and I'm not all that likely to in the future. But I'm not so stupid as to pass up the opportunity we have with that in our hands," Sonar pointed at the power ring. "Very well," the elder Sonar snapped before the angry young man in front of him could go any further. "The drugs administered into our prisoner's body should take effect soon, and the electrical stimulation of his brain will cause him to use his power ring to generate sound ceaselessly, to be collected by my nucleo-sonic engine. Then our undertaking will begin to have … audible results." And through the haze of chemicals coursing through his system, even through his limited exposure to humans and the nuances of their voices, Rot Lop Fan recognized the heartless malice in the laughter of the two men as it filled the room. New York City "I really appreciate you coming with me to hang out with my brother, Kyle," Jenny Hayden said as they walked together down their apartment building's hallway. "Sometimes when it's just the two of us he can be …" she flashed a guilty look in Rayner's direction "… a major downer. Talking about the past, and how nothing goes his way in the present. But when there's a group of people he's always fine." "Hey, no problemo," Rayner answered with an affable smile. "Todd's a good guy." "Yeah, but you were already signed up to give me a hand helping Dad and Molly settle into their new apartment tonight," Jenny continued. "Suddenly today's All-Day Family Day, and I don't want you to feel put out …" "I don't, Jen, honest." As they neared the doorway of their apartment, however, Rayner wondered over the subject himself. Was he making as much time for his roommate and her family as she asked for because of his friendship with Jenny, or because it seemed like a step in the right direction toward something more? And looming over the nit-picky questions he could ask himself about his possible motives remained the fact that he was still unable to determine whether he wanted more from Jenny or not. She's a wonderful girl, she's the best, Rayner would often think to himself. Yet he came no closer to a conclusion on what he truly wanted no matter how hard he tried. As Jenny slid her key into the deadbolt lock, the next door over opened, and Haven Donovan stepped out. She looked past Jenny and beamed at Rayner, "Hello, Kyle, how are you?" Rayner shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and grunted, "'kay." Jenny glanced over at Haven and raised her eyebrows as she appraised the model top to bottom. "You must be our new neighbor," Jenny said with a distinct lack of warmth. "Mm-hmm," Haven barely acknowledged the statement, then resumed talking to Kyle. "Are you busy tonight, Kyle? Because I'm going to a photography exhibition - I'm in some of the pieces, actually - and I'd love to have some company. Did you have any plans for later?" Jenny looked toward Rayner expectantly. Rayner gave Haven a tight-lipped smile and shrugged. "Well then come on over around 8:45, all right? Ta-ta," Haven tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder as she turned and sauntered down the hallway. Jenny finished unlocking the door and hurriedly stepped inside, then nearly crushed Rayner in the doorframe when she slammed the door on him as he followed. Rayner shouldered his way into the apartment, hands still deep in his pockets, and let the door fall closed behind him. Immediately Jenny whirled on him and said, "You're a real piece of work, you know that? If you didn't want to spend time with me and my family at all today all you had to do was say so! I told you I don't want you to feel put out, and I certainly don't want to stand in the way of you and Photo Shoot Barbie back there." Rayner exhaled heavily. "Jenny, I'm not going to that photo exhibition." "What?" Rayner withdrew his hands form his jeans. His power ring was glowing brilliantly as he explained, "Just as Haven came out into the hallway, I could feel my ring opening up its communication channel for a broadcast from the Guardians. There's only a select few people who know that Kyle Rayner is Green Lantern," he reminded Jenny, looking meaningfully into her jade eyes. "I had to use all my concentration to stop a big blue head in a bright green halo from appearing in the middle of the hallway. Didn't leave me much brainpower for conversation." "Well …," Jenny huffed, wanting to believe Rayner, but not entirely able to dispel all doubt. "I made the ring record the message," Rayner went on. "Look." He aimed the ring at the ceiling and the shimmering visage of a Guardian of the Universe appeared. "GREEN LANTERNS, REPORT AT ONCE TO THE CITADEL. ONE OF THE CORPS IS MISSING AND PRESUMED NO LONGER IN CONTROL OF HIS POWER RING." "Whoa," Jenny breathed. "That doesn't sound good." "No," Rayner shook his head. "Definitely not good at all." "So I guess the fact remains that you're bailing on me?" Jenny asked, trying to sound casually accepting, and falling just short. "I … I don't know," Rayner admitted. The Guardian's Citadel The Green Lantern Corps gathered before the Citadel in Coast City Memorial Park, with murmurs of unease rippling through their ranks. Nearest the Citadel, John Stewart, Hal Jordan and Kilowog conferred. "The Guardians are positive that the dome is being created by a power ring?" Jordan asked. Stewart nodded. "They recognize the energy signature, sure. More to the point, though, is the sonic component of the barrier, which is unique to Rot Lop Fan's 'F Sharp Bell' ring. And since Rot Lop Fan is still MIA…" "Not likely to be a coincidence, I know," Jordan assented. He scanned the gathering of Green Lanterns. "Kyle's still not here," he observed disapprovingly. "Can't wait much longer for 'im, Hal," Kilowog shrugged. "Nice as it'd be t'have someone who's not as outta practice as most of us are, we don't know how much time Rot Lop Fan's got." "If he's got any left at all," Stewart added somberly. Jordan silently weighed Kilowog's and Stewart's words, then turned to the rest of the Corps. "All right," he began in a commanding voice, "you all heard the Guardians explain that the country of Modora is now completely enclosed in a green energy dome. It appears that Rot Lop Fan's ring is being used to create this structure. We are going to Modora to get through the dome, find out what is going on beneath it, and rescue Rot Lop Fan. If that is … not possible, then at the very least we will retrieve the power ring. Any questions?" The Corps made no answer other than raising their ring hands at the ready. Jordan said, "There's one more thing. While none of us want to lose a Corps member, we have to take into consideration the possibility that this may be a trap. It's foolish to send the entire Corps on this mission. We need Green Lanterns to stay behind in case another emergency arises, in case this is a distraction meant to leave the Guardians undefended, or …" Jordan left unspoken a grim third possibility. "I would also wager that a villain known as Sonar is behind this. And due to his sonic powers and the fact that his threat is amplified by Rot Lop Fan's sound-generating ring, I want Chaselon and Tuebeen to stay here. No one here would question your abilities, but your crystalline structures make you particularly vulnerable to vibrational attacks. Do you understand?" On one side of the gathered Lanterns, Tuebeen gave Jordan a curt nod of his faceted chin. Chaselon gestured affirmation with one metallic arm. Jordan and Kilowog exchanged a quick glance of confirmation and rose into the air, borne aloft by their rings. "All right then, let's go," Jordan ordered. Followed by the rest of the Corps, they flew to the East in an emerald arc, headed for Modora. Modora's Dome As the Corps drew closer to their destination in northeastern Europe, the energy construct dome came into view. The emerald barrier was opaque and featureless, yet even at a distance it seemed heavy and unyielding. As the various Green Lanterns approached it, they began to hear the low, rumbling tones intermingled with the light energy of the construct; it sounded like the church bell of forgotten, monstrous gods. Soon the vibrations were so strong that the Green Lanterns could feel them in their bones - those members of the Corps who had bones, at least. The volume of the dome's sound energy rose as the distance was closed, as well. Jordan's power ring projected a pair of soundproof headphones around his ears, and the rest of the Corps who had ears followed suit. They reached the vibrating emerald dome, and attacked in unison. The thunder of blows impacting the dome mingled with the continuous knell of the energy construct. Weapons and creatures of solid green light assailed the surface, but could not penetrate it. Suddenly a hole opened in the surface of the dome, and Jordan saw Sonar emerge in flight, the yellow metal trim of his costume glittering against his blue uniform, his red cape snapping in the wind. Sonar brandished a weapon in one yellow-gloved hand, shaped like a gun except for its tuning-fork barrel. For a brief instant, Jordan remembered the way that Kyle Rayner had reacted to Evil Star's gaudy, ridiculous costume, and yet Sonar was in a fashion league that left Evil Star behind. Sonar's garb had always matched the foolishness of his villainy, Jordan realized. Was that why Rayner had not responded to the Guardians' summons? Had he decided all of the menaces facing the Corps were foolish and silly? Was there a crisis facing the JLA at the moment which demanded Rayner's attention, or was he simply more enthralled by the kinds of threats which the JLA dealt with regularly? Jordan's train of thought was about to take him back to the days when he himself had co-founded the JLA, but he was interrupted by Sonar's voice, shouting to be heard over the din of the dome. "Do not try to dismantle this barrier, Green Lantern!" the villain cried. "Modora will not be weakened by the European Union which so desperately seeks to subsume us! We stand apart as a great nation, do you hear? The world will no longer be able to deny the power wielded by Modora!" "This barrier was created with a power ring, Sonar," Jordan yelled back. "We've come to reclaim it and the one who wears it. We'll go through it … and you … if we must." "You must … be mistaken!" Sonar screamed, firing his nucleo-sonic pistol at Jordan. The weapon projected a crashing wave of solid sound that shrieked through the air ear-splittingly. The sound wave was tinged with pale green. Jordan's power ring instantly created a wall of verdant light that absorbed the sonic attack. "Salakk! Larvox! Umburu! Give me a hand!" Jordan said urgently. "The rest of you - keep working on that dome and get through it!" The Corps responded to Jordan's commands. While most of the Green Lanterns intensified their efforts to pierce the barrier, Salakk, Larvox and Umburu broke away and took up positions surrounding Sonar. Salakk used his power ring to create an oversized ball and chain that closed its clasp around Sonar's boots. Larvox projected a mass of energy flagella that wrapped around Sonar's torso, pinning his arms to his sides. Umburu was armed with a green energy rifle provided by his ring, and he fired a volley of blasts at Sonar, while Jordan constructed an emerald claw with which to snatch the nucleo-sonic pistol from Sonar's hand. Sonar only grinned ravenously as Jordan liberated him of his weapon. Jordan reeled the gun into his own hand, and once there the weapon self-destructed in an explosion of millions upon millions of decibels. The sound shook Jordan's innards and made him nauseous even as it pierced his eardrums and filled his brain with searing pain, totally disorienting him. Only the ring's failsafe to protect its wearer kept Jordan aloft. Sonar laughed even as Larvox's energy flagella tightened, Salakk's ball and chain pulled harder on his legs and Umburu continued to blast him with energy beams. The renewed attacks of the three Green Lanterns quickly silenced the villain, yet his satisfaction at hurting Jordan with the booby-trapped gun was unmistakable. Umburu willed his ring to transform the rifle he aimed at Sonar into a heavy cannon from the bridge of a battleship. Before the new energy weapon could fire, however, a thrumming beam of compressed sound waves tore into the Z'nangian's body. Umburu pinwheeled through the air from the force of the blow, and his energy construct dissipated. The sonic attack had come from the younger Sonar, just now emerging from his own small opening in the giant green dome. Once his boots were planted on the dome's exterior and his exit aperture sealed, the he pointed his cybernetic hands at the dome's surface and unleashed another barrage of vibrations. The attack resonated along the surface and threw up massive spikes of sonic energy that drove back the Green Lanterns attempting to break through the barrier. Most were battered by the jagged formations of solid noise and shifted the focus of their rings to defending themselves. One spike tore a gash along Apros' underbelly; another drove through Voz's shoulder and brought forth a howl of pain from the ape-like alien. The smaller Lanterns were able to evade the spears of sound. Galius Zed flew out of harm's way, landed on his three squat legs on the surface of the dome and beamed a glob of emerald energy at the younger Sonar. The glob wrapped itself around the top half of his opponent's head and effectively blinded him. Xax, small enough to easily fly between the spikes, aimed his power ring at the younger Sonar and projected a giant green dragonfly, which flew like a battering ram into Sonar's belly and knocked him onto his back on the dome. Jordan was slowly shaking off the effects of the sonic explosion he had been caught in. He cleared his swimming vision in time to see the elder Sonar reach through his restraints with his yellow glove and punch Larvox in his single, large eye with a sickening squish. Sonar then reached under his cape and detached a rod from the back of his belt, switched it on and created a long solid-sound pike. Sonar used this sonic weapon to bat Larvox aside and into Salakk, who caught his bacterium-shaped ally with all four of his slender arms. Jordan charged through the air at Sonar, and caught his adversary's throat in an emerald vice. "This is pointless, Wladon," Jordan insisted. "Even if none of us were here to stop you, what can you - or Modora - gain from hiding under a giant energy shield? If no one's heard of your nation now, they'll never hear of it if you're completely sequestered." Sonar sneered at Jordan and hissed through his burdened windpipe, "You … underestimate me … Green Lantern. Erecting … a structure around … Modora's borders is … only the beginning. You will see … and hear … the next phase … for yourself!" Jordan was about to demand that Sonar explain himself when the noise emanating from the green energy dome began to increase. It multiplied in echoes and rang now with the voices of a choir of bells. As the amplification of the sound continued, Jordan realized that the dome was expanding, slowly but surely growing outward to cover more ground. A stand of trees was plowed into the earth under the relentless progress of the dome's edge. A stone wall marking the edge of a farmer's property similarly was crushed by the expanding energy. Nothing was audible over the roar of the colossal green sound structure. Jordan could see that Sonar was boasting yet again, but his words were lost in the tumult of the dome's growing cacophony. Reluctantly, Jordan willed his power ring to create a horn shaped tube; Jordan inserted the small tapered end in his ear and pointed the flared end at Sonar's mouth. "Never again will Modora be mocked as the most insignificant nation-state in Europe!" Sonar bellowed, yet even with the guidance of the emerald horn his words were nearly drowned out by the dome. "Behold the means by which I will make Modora the most important country in Europe … when I flatten our neighbors and their neighbors … Modora will be the ONLY country remaining in Europe!" TO BE CONTINUED…!!! NEXT ISSUE: "Green Noise" turns up the volume! The Corps must summon all of their skills and strengths to stop two madmen from laying waste to Europe! Can they stop Sonar's power-ring rampage in time, and save Rot Lop Fan in the process? All this, and the answer to an important question - where is Kyle Rayner when they need him?

The DC Universe of characters, which includes 90% of all the ones written about on this site, their images and logos are all legally copyrighted to DC Comics and it's parent company of Time/Warner. We make absolutely no claim that they belong to us. We're just a bunch of fans with over active imaginations and a love of writing.