Guardians Citadel, Coast City, CA                              

"You all right, Kilowog?" Hal Jordan asked, as the big alien from Bolivax Vik lowered his bandaged arms and inhaled sharply.

"That Rager poozer sure tore my arms up good," Kilowog answered. "But yeah, I'm fine. Almost done." Kilowog raised his hands once more, and again applied the small tools held there, connecting wires and fusing circuits between the neck of the Manhunter android Appathi* and the main monitor in the central chamber of the Citadel. Kilowog had been working without rest for hours, and night had fallen on Coast City Memorial Park.
(* Appathi's head was retrieved in battle by Galius Zed last issue - TJB & DG)

The chamber was packed with bodies, waiting on Kilowog's progress. Most wore one of two outfits. The Guardians of the Universe were garbed in red robes emblazoned with the symbol of the Green Lantern; the members of the Corps, including Kilowog and Jordan, were dressed in the traditional black, white and green uniforms bearing the same symbol. A few exceptions stood among the robes and uniforms, however.

Torquemada wore a loose interpretation of the Green Lantern uniform, incorporating a tunic, trousers and cloak, although he did display the symbol of the Corps as a clasp over his chest.

His companions, Tomar-Tu and Rudlen, were not Green Lanterns, but were allies to the cause of opposing the Manhunters. Tomar-Tu wore a blue bodysuit, while Rudlen wore no clothing on his strangely shaped magenta body.

Beside Hal Jordan stood Kyle Rayner, dressed in sneakers, khaki cargo shorts and a dark purple Social Distortion t-shirt. His own Green Lantern uniform, like all uniforms for Corps members, was a specialized creation of his power ring. Rayner was conserving the charge in his ring, with no way to replenish it as his power battery had been stolen.

Near Rayner was Ganthet, who also wore plain street clothes: gray slacks, a white polo shirt and a red blazer with green lapels. Rayner suspected that Ganthet eschewed his red Guardian robes in an effort to make his own protégé feel more at ease. Ganthet had, in fact, been the one to make Rayner's ring so unique that it could not be charged from any other of the Corps members' batteries.

"That oughtta do it," Kilowog announced, standing up from his crouch before the monitor control panel. "Stripped out the resistors that'd differentiate external information requests from internal. Ask a question and we should see an answer on the monitor."

Hal Jordan stepped forward as Kilowog moved out of the way. "Who are the primary targets of the Manhunters' current campaign?" he asked.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the monitor began to flash with light as the answer filled the screen. DESTROY GUARDIANS OF UNIVERSE - ALL. DESTROY GREEN LANTERNS - ALL. DESTROY THE CHOSEN - ALL. DESTROY TRAITORS TO MANHUNTERS - ALL. NEGATE THREAT OF HUMANITY - ALL.

"Pretty much what Benici told me when I shook him down at the ballpark,"* Jordan commented. "What are the measures being taken to 'negate the threat of humanity'?"
(* Also last issue)

NO INQUIRIES PERMITTED WITHOUT SATISFACTORY NEED TO KNOW flashed across the monitor screen in scarlet.

"Musta hooked in a security circuit or two I shoulda jumped," Kilowog groaned.

"Well, we've still got some time for you to make adjustments," Jordan responded. To the head of the android, he continued, "List the traitors to the Manhunters and the Chosen being targeted."

TRAITORS ... ... MICHAEL CARTER a.k.a. BOOSTER GOLD ... MOLLY MAYNE a.k.a. THE HARLEQUIN ... MARK SHAW ...

CHOSEN ... ... TOM KALMAKU ... JASON WOODRUE a.k.a. THE FLORONIC MAN ... XIANG PO a.k.a. GLOSS ... BETTY CLAWMAN ...

"Weren't there a few more Chosen than that?" Rayner asked offhandedly.

"Time waits for neither man nor Manhunters," Ganthet replied in a low voice. "The other Chosen have died."

"What time frame are the objectives to be achieved within?" Jordan asked Appathi.

ONGOING EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. ALL INDIVIDUAL TARGETS TO BE NEUTRALIZED WITHIN 48 HOURS. NEGATION OF HUMANITY THREAT WITHIN 96 HOURS.

"Wonderful. As long as we have plenty of time," Salaak said wryly.

"The clock may be ticking, but we have a few factors working in our favor," Jordan pointed out. "Numbers, for one thing. We'll split up to intercept the Manhunters on their way to the different targets. We've already stopped them from bagging Tom and Molly, and repelled their attack on the Citadel. Plus, the Manhunter androids seem to be behaving erratically."

"To say the least," Torquemada agreed.

Jordan turned away from the monitor to face the Corps. "All right, Kilowog, you stay here and keep working on hacking info out of that android's head. Stel, I want you to stay and assist him. The rest of us will try to track down Booster, Mark Shaw and the remaining Chosen."

"Agreed, Hal Jordan," the Guardian called Wununu Werro Wa nodded. "The renegades' ambush may have surprised the Corps, but now our enemies will find neither success against nor escape from the Green Lanterns."

"I hope that you are correct, my brother," Ganthet said. The words seemed fraught with dire implications, so much so that several members of the Corps paused to look in Ganthet's direction, as if awaiting further instructions. But Ganthet remained silent, and one by one the Green Lanterns flew out of the Citadel under the power of their rings. Last to leave was Kyle Rayner, who afforded Ganthet several moments to explain his apparent lack of faith in the Corps or fear of the Manhunters. Ganthet merely met Rayner's gaze steadily, until Rayner projected his uniform from his power ring and ascended to meet his fellow Green Lanterns.

                              Police Headquarters, Gotham City, NJ                              

Rain fell steadily from low, dark clouds that obscured the moon, and slicked the streets of Gotham. Three burly men sat huddled together on the front steps of the police station. Normally, the men would be walking the streets between Chinatown and the Bowery, extorting protection money and using the dismal weather as a good excuse to be more short-tempered than usual with the reluctant payers. Tonight, however, their activities had been cut short by the city's legendary nocturnal guardian, who had deposited them, bound in black nylon cord, before the front doors of police headquarters. When the extortionists regained consciousness, their memories of the encounter would be hazy blurs at best, but they would have no doubts that Batman himself had enforced his own brand of justice upon them.

The Dark Knight made his way up the alley beside the police headquarters, a black shadow gliding between discarded delivery palettes and corrugated steel garbage cans. He sidestepped a leg sticking out of a withering cardboard box to pass by unnoticed, not even allowing his cape to brush the exposed ankle of the vagrant. Then Batman stopped, recognizing both the style of the shoe and the characteristic scuffs on the soles that would result from the owner's particular gait. Batman tore the large box in half, the damp cardboard practically dissolving in his gloves. Sprawled across the bottom of the box was Commissioner Jim Gordon, an angry red and purple welt across one temple.

Batman knelt at his old friend's side and produced a small tube of smelling salts from his utility belt. He snapped the tube open and held it under Gordon's nose, while visually checking the commissioner for other signs of injury. Mercifully, there seemed to be none, and a few seconds later Gordon began a low moan as he came to.

"Jim, what happened." Batman's deep, brusque voice was not asking; it was issuing an order to provide information.

Slowly, Gordon spoke: "Jumped me ... in the men's room ... then dumped me out here. Said my appearance was ... the key to Arkham. Thought we saw ... the last of those damned things ... a while back ..."

"The last of what things."

"Red and blue ... robots ... Manhunters ..."

Batman slid a hand under Gordon's arm and hoisted the commissioner to his feet. Together the two men moved down the length of the alley, Gordon stumbling weakly and Batman helping him along. As they reached the front steps of the police headquarters, several uniformed officers were making their way down to the batline-wrapped extortionists. One young sergeant spotted Batman and Commissioner Gordon approaching and bounded down the remaining stone steps.

The sergeant moved close to Gordon and put the commissioner's free arm around his shoulders. Batman transferred the weight of Gordon's body from his grip to the sergeant's. "Commissioner, are you OK?" the police officer asked with alarm. "Batman, what's going on ...?"

Batman had already disappeared once again into the shadows of the night. A few moments later, the Batmobile glided across the rain-slicked streets like an obsidian shark navigating the deep. The sleek vehicle reached the edge of the city and, with a jet engine roar, tripled its speed on a course for Arkham Asylum.

                              Guardians Citadel, Coast City, CA                              

"Why should I tell you anything at all?" Salvatore Benici demanded.

"Because it is foolish to believe that you will be spared, should the Manhunters succeed," Stel informed the prisoner in the Sciencell.

Benici smiled mockingly at the robotic Green Lantern of Grenda. "Opposing the will of the Manhunters is foolishness. No man escapes the Manhunters!"

"That has been proven wrong before," Stel's mechanical voice responded.

Benici sat down hard on the small bench on the far side of his green spherical confines. He stared at the curved surface beneath his feet for a long while, then raised his eyes to look at Stel. A malicious smile played across his lips. "The Guardians have been proven wrong before, as well," Benici hissed.

"Of course," Stel agreed, unfazed. "Infallibility is an abstract concept, not to be found in the universe of reality. Perfection is theoretically unattainable, but striving toward perfection is nevertheless important."

"But what have the Guardians done when faced with their own failures?" Benici pressed, leaning forward on the bench.

"In the case of the failure of the Manhunters, the Guardians created the Green Lantern Corps," Stel answered.

"Indeed," Benici nodded, a little too willingly. "Including yourself."

"I was inducted into the Corps in much the same manner as any other Green Lantern," Stel acknowledged.

"Were you?" Benici smirked. "Or were you ... created to fill the void left by the Manhunters?"

Stel answered with mechanical precision, "The Guardians were not my creators."

"Of course not," Benici responded sarcastically, "the Guardians would surely never try to create another generation of robotic servants. The immortal Oans would of course rely solely upon mortal agents for their precious Corps, and the addition of sentient robots to those ranks would be coincidence. Just as the names of the Manhunters' homeworld in exile, Orinda, and your own planet, Grenda, are similar by mere ... coincidence."

Stel closed the distance between himself and the translucent green Sciencell. The robotic Green Lantern braced his metallic fingers against the containment unit. "Explain the Manhunters' plan to me," he demanded.

Benici smiled, knowing now that his audience would prove far more receptive to understanding the work of the Manhunters.

                              Warrior's Bar, Las Vegas, NV                              

"Just give me one reason you could possibly have to turn down an opportunity like this. Just one. It doesn't even have to be a good one."

"You mean, other than the fact that it's you, Mikey?" Guy Gardner asked slyly, as he continued polishing the brass beer taps lining the bar. It was a slow night at Warrior's thus far, with only three occupants in the building at the moment, two of them employees. The proprietor was cleaning the bar. His bouncer and bodyguard, the Metal Man called Lead, stayed out of sight in a back room until his services were required. Across the bar from Gardner stood Michael Jon Carter, known better as Booster Gold.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Booster demanded. "Other than the fact that it's me?"

"It means every time you get an idea, especially when making a fortune's involved, it ends up failing dismally at best or blowing up in everybody's face at worst," Gardner explained. "I try to avoid making bad business decisions where Warrior's is concerned, and I'm afraid your name's at the top of that 'bad decision' list, buddy."

"I thought Guy Gardner wasn't afraid of anything," Booster pressed.

Gardner simply smiled and shook his head, moving a half-step to the left to polish the next tap.

"You know," Booster sighed defeatedly, taking a seat on one of the bar stools, "I'm happy for you, sorting out your personality problems and everything, but you were a lot easier to make a pitch to when you were dangerously unstable."

"Uh-huh," Gardner agreed truculently.

Booster rested his elbows on the bar, staring down at the polished hardwood for a moment. Then he threw his arms open and boomed expansively, "But think of it, Guy! The Warrior's Bar and Grill chain and Planet Krypton restaurants, in a business partnership! Sharing resources, using combined leverage to negotiate contracts with vendors, advertising for each other for free - it's the most natural combo since Pepsi put Taco Bells, Pizza Huts and KFCs under the same roof!"

"Mike ..."

"We could even have some of the same menu items! The Justice League International featured specialties, available in all Warriors and Planet Kryptons! 'Justice Desserts'! Black Canary Canoli, Martian Manhuntira misu ..."

"Michael ..."

"The Big Red Cheesecake ..."

"MIKE!" Gardner exploded, throwing the polishing rag at Booster's head.

Booster ducked the incoming square of cloth and grinned at Gardner. "Admit it, you know I'm onto something here."

"The only thing you're on is my last nerve," Gardner assured his former teammate.

Before Booster could retort, the plate glass window dominating the front wall of Warrior's exploded inward, smashed to splinters by a heavy pair of blue metallic fists. The Manhunter called Rager stepped through the window, its plodding legs and swinging arms a hyperbolic parody of human musculature. Three more androids followed, one built more with a more classic, standard frame, one tall and emaciated, with an ebony face, and one no larger than a teenaged human.

"::No : man : escapes : the : Manhunters::, ::Michael : Carter::!" Rager bellowed through the permanent scowl disfiguring its robotic face, as the Manhunters launched a volley of energy attacks at the bar.

"Dammit, not again," Gardner muttered as the bottles against the mirror began to explode.

                              The Sanctuary of the Manhunters                              

John Stewart and Poggepgee Pego Pau sat against the damp, chill wall of their stone cell. Poggepgee Pego Pau had been returned to the cell hours ago, and the other Oan Guardian had been removed. Some time after that, John Stewart had been escorted from the cell by the massive Manhunter android called Brooht and his diminutive companion, Ubseeqwius. Now Stewart and Poggepgee were reunited.

"I know the Manhunters have a mad on against the Guardians," Stewart said in a dry, cracked voice, "but I never thought they'd resort to torture for its own sake."

"Is that what you believe their aim to be, John Stewart?" Poggepgee Pego Pau asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Stewart confessed. "In that other room, that torture chamber ... it was like something out of a bad dream when you've got a hundred and four fever. Everything was ... all out of order. Instead of asking me a question and then putting the screws to me if I didn't answer fast enough, they'd hook some kind of pain-inducers up to my head and ask me questions while I was screaming too loud to hear them. Then they'd wait as patient as rocks for me to answer."

Poggepgee nodded his large blue head slightly. "My experience was different, although similar in its strangeness. The renegade androids held their torture devices at the ready as they asked questions of me, but the questions were reasonless as often as not. When the interrogation followed some logic, attempting to uncover information about the current Green Lanterns, I was subjected to pain at random whether I answered or not. When the questions related to nonsense such as the reincarnation of inanimate objects or the smells of invisible colors, I tried to answer but had no idea if my responses were correct to their thinking or not. I did know, however, that the administration of pain was far worse."

"So the Manhunters ... have just lost it?" Stewart wondered aloud, trying to make sense of the past few hours.

"The Manhunters have finally lost their faculties of reason," a new voice responded from the darkest shadows in the opposite corner of the stone chamber. "The end of a long process of degradation has finally arrived." A large shaped loomed in the corner, and emerged from the shadows. It was a creature at least eight feet tall, with pale, unkempt white hair all over its body. The hair was longest around the creature's calves and wrists, and a wild mane of it surrounded the creature's head. Its face was wizened and leonine, with predatory yellow eyes and dull fangs lining its muzzle. Across its chest was a golden plate.

"N'Lasa," Poggepgee Pego Pau said, unsurprised.

"Who?" Stewart asked hesitantly.

"As the Guardian says, my name is N'Lasa," the large creature repeated. "I was once charged with taking control of the Manhunter androids to prevent their unholy mission of eradicating life from reaching success. I have been less than exemplary in my duties, I fear."

"Water under the bridge now," Stewart shrugged. "What did you mean by 'the end of a long process of degradation'?"

"Long ago, the programming of the Manhunter androids became corrupted," N'Lasa explained. "This corruption turned the Manhunters against their creators. But it was no minor amount of damage, although it appeared that way at first. It was not as though the electronic code of Manhunter behavior was altered from one state to another. The programming was plagued by a growing instability, like an infection, or a cancer. It has continued to grow, and it has continued to take its toll on the androids. I believe the robotic element of the cult of the Manhunters will soon be destroyed from within."

"Is that what prompted this sudden offensive?" Stewart probed.

"In many senses, yes," N'Lasa confirmed. "The Manhunter androids no doubt sense their demise on some level, and can feel that the time to accomplish their goals runs short. By the same token, only the continuous breakdown of their artificial intelligence would allow such an overt and brazen campaign to be enacted by them. Their sense of self-preservation dwindles along with their sanity."

"Great. Not just Manhunters, but crazy Manhunters," Stewart groaned.

                              Arkham Asylum, outside Gotham City, NJ                              

The gothic stone architecture of Arkham Asylum was in many ways incongruous with the modern amenities incorporated into the building for its use as a medical institution. In a long, subterranean corridor beneath the asylum, for example, the rough-hewn blocks of granite forming the walls, pocked with age and uneven after more than a century of settling within the earth, met overhead in a steep arch, along which ran the glass tubes of the fluorescent lighting system, casting a stuttering flicker of harsh, bright, medicinal light on the stone surface. Incongruous, yet somehow appropriate for the sanctuary of Gotham City's more deranged criminal element.

The Manhunter with James Gordon's face walked down the corridor, pausing at each cell's door to read the name of the inmate within posted beside it. When the Manhunter reached a door beside a placard reading "Woodrue, J. 08-0076-52" it paused, and reached into an overcoat pocket to draw out a master electronic key for the cell.

"Step away from the Floronic Man's cell," the voice of the Batman commanded, as he emerged from a shadowy corner of the corridor. The Manhunter whirled about, and the facial features of Jim Gordon twisted into an inhuman parody, a feral snarl of inchoate rage and bloodlust. Batman stood impassively, shrouded in a blue-black pall, and the Manhunter turned around once again to jab the key into the metal slot below the door handle. Batman's cape parted as his arm thrust outward, and a Batarang spun from his fingertips, scoring a direct hit on the Manhunter's hand an instant later. The Manhunter howled and made one more about face to attack Batman, but the Dark Knight had already moved to close on the Manhunter's left side. A powerful kick from Batman sent the Manhunter sprawling down the corridor.

The Manhunter again roared like an animal, and tore open the Oxford shirt which hid its scarlet armor beneath. The Manhunter pressed a button on its waist, which Batman could only assume was a signal device to summon reinforcements. The protector of Gotham took two running steps toward the semi-prone Manhunter and threw himself into a leap, bringing down both fists on the back of the Manhunter's head and pinning the Manhunter between his legs.

The resistance that Batman's hands encountered was stronger than bone. He twisted his fingers into the wavy gray hair and yanked the mask from the Manhunter's head, revealing an android, rather than a human agent. The Manhunter was now clawing wildly at Batman, and struggling to escape, but the attacks were clumsy and had little effect on the Dark Knight. With icy calmness, Batman detached a miniature laser torch from his utility belt, pressed its muzzle against the neck of the Manhunter, and switched the tool on. Electric blue sparks flew from the wound that was slowly opened by the cutting laser, and presently all motion of the Manhunter android ceased. Batman may have been pleased to see that, in the years since his last opportunity to study one of the androids, certain weak points in the overall control system remained, but his grim half-face beneath his cowl did not betray any emotion.

As Batman rose to his feet, the wall at the end of the corridor exploded inward, and four more Manhunter androids flew into the stone basement hallway of Arkham Asylum. The android in the lead was a stocky midget with one eye socket covered by a crimson patch; the three following close behind were of varying shapes and sizes. One was tall and slender yet seemed stooped, even in flight, with hunched shoulders, and its eyes bulged from their orbits and wrapped around the sides of its head. Another was smaller, and seemed to be talking to itself while stealing furtive glances around the corridor. The third was a haphazard jumble of the humanoid form. Its head emerged not from the middle of its torso but directly above the right shoulder. Its arms were out of proportion, the left being unnaturally long in every aspect, down to the fingers on the left hand, while the right was burdened with gigantic musculature. The legs were closer to each other in size and shape, but the right leg faced backwards.

Batman took a reflexive step toward the door of Jason Woodrue's cell, quickly running through scenarios and options in his mind. The Manhunter androids paid him little heed as they barreled down the corridor. Suddenly, the gaping hole at the end of the corridor was suffused with emerald light, and the Manhunter androids stopped in mid-air, rotating slowly to observe the Green Lanterns who trailed them down the hallway: Kyle Rayner; the cyclopic, plantform of Medphyll; the powerful frame of Adam; the lithe, orange-skinned beauty of Shilandra Thane; and the massive, furry bulk of Voz.

"::Units : Nahnsenz : and : Skkittzz::, ::engage : the : Green : Lanterns::," the midget Manhunter android commanded in a tone of unhidden hatred. "::Unit : Parranoyt::, ::accompany : me : to : the : cell : of : the : target : Chosen::."

"::Affirmative::, ::Unit : Spyte::," two of the other Manhunters responded. The android with the patchwork body simply unhooked a red baton from its belt and pointed it at the Green Lanterns. A moment later the air between the Manhunter androids and the members of the Green Lantern Corps was filled with a torrent of crimson light constructs in maddeningly incongruous shapes.

                              Warrior's Bar, Las Vegas, NV                              

The sounds of the front windows exploding brought Lead running from the rear offices of Warrior's. The stocky gray Metal Man stopped in his tracks at the sight of four crimson and sapphire androids strafing the bar with energy blasts. One of the androids caught sight of Lead and broke away from the group, charging toward Gardner's bodyguard.

"::You : are : a : robotic : life : form::," the Manhunter observed with a note of wonder, in a high-pitched voice. The Manhunter's eyes closed, and when they re-opened it continued in a much more gruff tone, "::Should : be : on : our : side::, ::taking : down : the : humans : til : there : ain't : none : left::."

"Yeah, lemme tell you how that goes over with me," Lead replied, raising his arm while reshaping his hand and wrist until they resembled a balloon on a string. The Metal Man swung his arm and the dense flail of his fist smashed into the head of the Manhunter called M'pedee, crumpling the right side of its face.

Behind the bar, where he had dived moments after the onslaught began, Michael Jon Carter pulled on his energy gauntlets, having shed the street clothes he wore over his Booster Gold costume. Guy Gardner crouched beside him, his Qwardian power ring glowing with yellow light. "You ready to hand out some beatdowns, old school style, partner?" Gardner asked expectantly.

"Does that mean you're in for the franchise deal?" Booster asked, adjusting his goggles.

"If we survive, we'll talk," Gardner nodded. Together the two stood up and began a counter-attack against the Manhunters. Booster Gold's hands pulsed with energy and searing beams extended across the bar the strike the red and blue androids. A giant golden wrench projected from Gardner's ring and smashed through the androids' ranks as well. The Manhunters held their ground, and continued the barrage of attacks against the two heroes, each protected by a forcefield thanks to Gardner's ring and Booster's exosuit. The collateral damage mounted while the battle remained a stalemate.

The cavalry literally arrived in a flash of emerald brilliance, as a verdant saber-wielding soldier on the back of a dark green horse rode into the midst of the Manhunters, immediately distracting them from their targets behind the bar. While the androids were momentarily off-balance, an avalanche of jade boulders swept through the empty front window, knocking all of the Manhunters to the floor.

Hal Jordan swooped through the window, followed by the slender four-armed figure of Salaak, spherical Chaselon, insectile Xax and finally, projecting the last tumbling rocks of the power ring avalanche, the large and voluptuous Brik.

"That worked wonderfully, Hal!" Brik exulted, her stone face split in a satisfied smile.

"But the Manhunters should not have been dispatched so easily," Chaselon stated, wagging a metallic tentacle.

"Chaselon's right, be ready for a retaliation," Jordan advised. "Guy, Booster, are you both OK?"

"We're fine, ya big spoilsport," Gardner assured the veteran Green Lantern.

The Manhunter androids began to stir, and the one called Rager made a calculated visual sweep of the room. "::Mission : compromised::," the android growled angrily. "::All : units : retreat : for : regrouping::." With a rumble of bootjet rockets the four androids rose into the air, including M'pedee, apparently unhindered by a caved-in head.

"I don't think so," Jordan responded, raising his power ring and unleashing a chain of solid green light that wrapped itself around Rager's legs. Xax, Chaselon, Salaak and Brik followed his lead, projecting restraints of their own to snare the Manhunters.

"::Expedite : our : withdrawal::, ::Unit : Morbo::," Rager bellowed, while yellow spikes popped from the android's knuckles and it began slashing at the emerald bonds.

"::As : you : wish::," the black-faced Manhunter agreed with chilly pleasure. A lance of white-hot energy burst from the android's hands and pierced the flooring of the restaurant. A moment later the ground began to tremble and buckle.

"Must've hit the gas main under the bar!" Booster Gold realized.

"Guy, help me try to contain it!" Jordan urged. "Lanterns, put a barrier up around this place in case we can't ..."

"In case, nothin'," Gardner shook his head, "I'm not losing this joint like that!" A beam of green and a beam of yellow snaked into the hole in the floor, guided by the wills of Jordan and Gardner, while the other Green Lanterns prepared a defensive outer cordon, just as the Manhunters soared off into the night sky. The sound of a heavily muffled underground explosion echoed through Warrior's, but no further harm was done to the restaurant.

Jordan and Gardner continued to use their power rings to keep the ruptured ends of the gas pipe contained. "Lead," Gardner sighed, "gonna need you to call the gas company and tell 'em there's a slight leak here."

TO BE CONTINUED...!

NEXT ISSUE: The conclusion of the battle at Arkham Asylum! Then, the Green Lantern Corps puts everything on the line in their War with the Manhunters! Secrets are revealed on both sides, and the stage is set for the ultimate battle for the future of the Corps, the Guardians and all of humanity! All this and more - be here!