ALTERED DAWNby Seth J. Richards -- sjrichar@hilltop.ic.edu
Disclaimer: All elements of this story which appeared in a Green Lantern tale before
ALTERED DAWN belong to DC Comics and should be treated as such. The rest
is mine.
Part One - The Lighting of a Lantern
The Sun shone brightly on Earth as what seemed a peaceful day
dawned in the small town of Tarleton, Illinois. As the day wore on, it
continued to be the kind of day that tempted everyone who looked out their
windows to go outside and relax any way they could, just as long as they
were in the fresh air. Of course, this little town of 1000 people was no
different. None of the students, from kindergarten up to high school,
wanted to be inside studying. Not even the teachers wanted to have to be
going through this. But all of them decided that summer was just too close
to quit now and reluctantly kept at what they were doing.
Meanwhile, up above, the same sun that was a blessing down below
was a curse to one Abin Sur. "Arrrgghhh...yellow light, can't see...got
to..." he mentally groaned as he tried to block it with his ring,
forgetting one thing: the only color his ring couldn't block was yellow.
Suddenly, the ship's nose began to veer down towards the planet below.
"Noooo...got to...right the ship..." Try as he might, the yellow light
blinded him, and as he tried to make the course corrections, his finger
slipped, causing the ship to fall faster towards Earth. Soon, the air
around his ship grew too hot, and, using his light to create a heat shield,
Abin Sur slipped into unconsciousness.
"Murg. Why do finals have to be now?" Sean O'Neill complained as
he headed from one class to the next. "Just like when it seemed that the
school year was really beginning, the teachers go and spring this on us.
Oh, well, at least they're not college finals. And, hey, maybe I have a
chance of getting out of them if my grades are good enough." But as he
checked the list of those who'd have to be taking finals at Tarleton High
School, he saw what upset him most: his grades were good enough, but he'd
missed too many days, so he'd have to take finals. "Not again." It seemed
like this happened every year. He came to school, every day, even
sometimes when he really didn't feel like coming, only to be downed by the
flu or some other disease, which, of course, his father couldn't let him
come to school with. Ever since his mother had died, Dad had tried to take on
her role, too. Unfortunately, it led to times like that, where he enjoyed
the attention he got, but he really would have preferred coming to school
with the disease if it meant getting out of finals. Besides, he could
handle it.
Just then, he saw a friendly face walk up to him and hold out a
hand in greeting. As usual, it was Buddy Smith, his best friend. Why
should he have expected anything less? "Hey, Sean. Well? Did you manage to
get out of finals this year?"
"Do I usually?"
"Sorry, man. Wish I could help, but..."
That was usually the way finals went, and he had no right to think it
would work out any differently. After all, unless for some reason, a
miracle occurred, he'd probably wind up stuck in Tarleton for the rest of
his life. Oh, he'd go off to college, but after that, some business in
Tarleton would offer him a job, and, needing one, he'd accept and head
back. That was the way all things like that went. But then, he was human,
and a Tarletonite. If it didn't work out like that, the town wouldn't have
the population it did.
CRASH! the ship hit and hit hard on a rocky mountainside. The
light shield, however, had managed to hold, so the ship was still in one
piece, although it also would now be useless. Abin Sur woke
with an unusual feeling. Of course, he was dying. Seeing it as his last
act, he telepathically told the ring, "Seek out someone who can take my
place. Find someone kind, wise, unselfish, and utterly without
fear...someone worthy to take on the role of Green Lantern!" With that,
beams of green energy shot out from the ring, searching for the person
that Sur could mean to take on his role.
A rather large man with hair graying at the temples and gone
everywhere else stood in front of a group of twenty students, Sean among
them. Though he'd never let them see that, in his mind was one thought:
"Thankfully, these are all seniors, so it's their last day and my last day
with them until finals." Plants abounded in the back of a room with twenty
small desks for the students, a bookcase full of English-related textbooks
of all types, posters of foreign cities and a map of Britain covering the
back wall, and a large cabinet-desk in the front for him. He wiped his
brow in relief, but to all who could see him, it looked like it was just
from the heat of the light bulbs he was under. "All right, hand in your
term papers and...let's see...we're finished with the lessons, so after
that, you may as well go." Bored as can be from the forty-five minute
lecture that had come before it, Sean rushed up to the desk, eager to get
outside and to just get away. Before he knew what had happened, Sean was
out the door when he heard a voice yelling behind him, "Sean! Wait for
me!"
"Oh, is it my turn to drive our carpool again?"
"Yep, and just in case you forgot, your dad told me to remind you
to pick up Christa from school and bring her home before we do anything
else."
"Murg." Anyway, however, Sean did manage to get set off. Now if he
could only remember where the high school band was practicing today so he
could pick up his freshman sister. Somehow, knowing that after he left,
Christa would still be there was not a comforting thought. His car zoomed
off in the direction of the most likely place where they'd practice...the
city park.
The two got there just in time to see the final hour of band
practice, which was not exactly on Sean's list of favorite things to do.
Anyway, once the hour ended, they got Christa and headed home. But looking
out the front window, Sean saw a green beam of light heading straight for
him. Swerving to miss it, he nearly succeeded, but found instead that it
had picked up the car and was dragging to...who knows where.
Observing the car floating towards his ship, Abin Sur mused
hoarsely, "Good. The new Green Lantern has come. My sacrifice...not...in
vain..."
THUD! The beam set the car down as hard as it could, on a very
rocky mountainside, near...."a spaceship. I can't be...but it is! A
spaceship!"
"Um, Sean, maybe we shouldn't go near that thing. After all, we
don't know what kind of beings there are in there."
"Buddy, you don't have to go, but I'm going to check on that.
After all, look at it. It doesn't look like anything could use it now. If
there was anything inside, it's probably at least close to dead." With
that, Sean began to climb out of the car's wreckage.
"Wait, Sean." Turning, he saw Christa beginning to climb out after
him. "I'm going, too."
"Oh..." Suddenly he realized how Christa could be when she didn't
get her way because he wouldn't let her. "Never mind. Come on. After all,
what can it hurt?"
The two climbed out of the wreckage and followed the green beam
inside the spaceship. There they saw a sight they never thought they'd
see...an alien, dressed in a costume like something out of a
science-fiction movie.
"Welcome, Green Lantern," Sean could hear in his mind. "Though
there are two people entering, only the new Green Lantern can hear my
thoughts."
"You're communicating by telepathy! But how?"
"I am of a telepathic race. But that is not important. Step
forward, Green Lantern."
Sean did and, as he did, he felt that same green light, pouring
from the ring the alien wore, on him,
penetrating every part of his body, almost probing, like a test. Sean
simply stood his ground and let the light wash over him. "Yes, I can see
by the green light of my ring that you are kind, wise, and unselfish...and
the ring has already chosen you as one utterly without fear," he heard.
"It chose well, it seems. You will make a worthy Green Lantern."
"But what is this `Green Lantern' you keep calling me? And who are
you? And what is that costume and that ring you're wearing for, anyway?"
"I am Abin Sur, a Green Lantern, one of 3600 members of the Green
Lantern Corps, each defending one sector of the entire universe. I defend
Sector 2814, which includes Earth. While on a routine patrol, the light of
your sun, which is yellow, the one color this ring I wear cannot affect,
blinded me, causing me to make my ship crash into this mountainside. Thus,
I am here. But because I am so near death, I sent beams of green energy
out through my ring to search out one who would be worthy, finding you."
"But you still haven't said what the ring and costume are for. And
if you are near death, how have you said so much to me?"
"The costume I wear is the uniform of the Green Lantern Corps. The
ring, which must be charged every 24 hours through the battery, which is
shaped like an Earth lantern, as is the ring, allows the wearer to fly and
project the products of their will and imagination out into reality, using
the green energy the battery charges it with. Once projected, only the color
yellow and the 24-hour limit will affect the products of the ring. You
will find out what I mean by products soon enough. As for
how I managed to tell you all this, my ring has sustained me until you
know all you need to know. But there is one more test you must first pass
before you fully become a Green Lantern. Uhhhh...." With that, Abin Sur
died.
Removing the ring and the costume from Abin Sur, Sean quickly put
them on and charged the ring. When he was finished, he vowed that he would
pass the test for Abin Sur, and then as he prepared to fly off to show
Buddy, he saw Christa's hand reach out and grab the battery. Instantly,
she was enveloped in a wash of green light, just as he had been.
The results, however, were dramatically different. Instead of the
costume he had been given, after her transformation, she appeared to be
dressed in a form-fitting armor version of his costume.
"That ring should have been mine, Green Lantern. I know how you'll
use it. You'll just use it to show off in front of everybody. I'd use it
to do good. So I'm going to get it, one way or another. Turn and face me,
Green Lantern. Turn and face...Parallax!"
Part Two - Fading Lantern
"Turn and face me. Turn and face....PARALLAX!"
Wondering what had happened, Sean O'Neill turned and saw his
sister, Christa, wearing an armor version of his Green Lantern
costume and domino mask that had somehow appeared on her after she grabbed
his battery. He heard her continue to taunt him, hoping to get him into a
battle so that she could take his ring. He could see her desire for it
flaring in her eyes.
"No, Christa," he replied, willing up a shield of green energy, "I
can't fight you. You're my sister."
Her only reply was a blast of green energy which, despite the
ring's protecting him with the shield that he willed up and a forcefield
that had automatically come up around him when he got hit with the blast,
he was still knocked into the wall with an OOOOFF!
Rubbing his head, he mumbled, "Nice...shot..." and summoned up a
pair of green pincers which he shot out at Christa, hoping to contain her.
She laughed and used the battery's energy to fly off into the
desert, leaving a green trail behind her. Sean cursed at himself for not
being quicker with that move. Now he'd have to use his energy to fly off
after her, and if this ring had a time limit, how much time had Abin Sur
used after his last recharge? If this ring had a time limit, he couldn't
follow her, since she had the full power of the battery that recharged his
ring at her command and because of that, wouldn't have the time limit.
Murg, he thought. He used the ring's energy to change
back to Sean and walked out to the car where Buddy still was.
"Hey, Sean, welcome back," he heard his best friend yell when he
walked out of the ship. "What happened? And where's Christa?"
"No time to explain, Buddy. Let's just say that we need to head
out after Christa. She's gone," he explained, pointing out in the
direction she had flown.
"Wait. Why would she have gone that way? There's nothing out there
but desert. And after all, how far could she get on foot?"
"I'll explain while we head out that way."
And he did, telling Buddy exactly what had happened in the ship,
from meeting Abin Sur to his becoming a Green Lantern to Christa's
stealing the battery and becoming Parallax and flying off into the desert
in the way he had pointed.
"But if you're a Green Lantern and she's using your energy,
couldn't you just fly after her?"
"That's just it, Buddy. I don't want to waste energy unless I know
how much I have. For all I know, I could have a ring full of energy or the
energy in this ring could be nearly gone until the next recharge."
And so the drive continued for night upon night, the scenery
always the black tar-surfaced road, buttes, plateaus, sand, and the point
of green light that the car kept following. Eventually, the point of light
zoomed down to an open field and the car stopped.
As soon as Parallax touched down, Sean and Buddy stepped out of
the car. "Christa, what are you doing here? It's just an empty space. Give
me back the lantern so I can recharge and we can get home," Sean said in a
soothing voice as he reached out his hand to her.
"Are you kidding? This is great. Now I have the power...and I'm
going to use it to bring him here...to get a real Green Lantern to stop
you from using the ring to just get yourself some glory..and let a real
hero defend Earth as Green Lantern."
"Christa, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want the
ring just to use it to become famous. I don't know who this him is, and
frankly, I don't care. You're not acting like a hero, you're acting like a
spoiled child, and we really need to get back home before Dad does."
"Spoiled child, am I? Could a spoiled child do.....this?" With
that, she pointed her hand into the air and fired a green beam that pulled
down another spaceship, this time setting it down gently.
A alien with ruby-red skin, a black crew-cut, and a Green Lantern
uniform, complete with mask, stepped out of the ship. He turned to
Parallax and said, "Thank you for bringing me down to Earth, my dear. You
must be the new Green Lantern. My name is Sinestro. And you are?"
"Call me Parallax."
"Good. But wait. From the yellow-haired lad I also sense some
Green Lantern power."
"He's an impostor who's stolen my ring. To stop him, I took the
battery and merged with it. You've got to stop him from using my ring to
try to conquer Earth!"
"Gladly...." With that, he turned to Sean, and with a ruthless
smile, willed up a green weapon of a type Sean had never seen before and
fired.
The next thing that could be heard was Buddy's scream, "Nooooooo!"
as he leaped in front of the blast and was knocked into the ground with a
force like no other. Sean bent down and examined Buddy's wounds. "Thank
goodness he's only unconscious," he said blankly as he used some more
energy in his ring to change to Green Lantern again.
Soon, both Sinestro and Sean flew up into the air and began their
battle. A contest of wills ensued as the imaginations of both were
stretched past what they thought were their limits. For every attack that
one came up with, the other instantly had a defense ready...but with each
move that Sean made, the amount of time it remained solid grew less and
less, despite Sean's putting more willpower behind it in attempts to make
it hold.
Finally, even Sean's costume began to fade. "Oh, great, I'm nearly
out of power," he mumbled, not wanting to show weakness in front of the
man who had shot his friend. With one more blast, it was over. Sean fell
to the ground and Parallax and Sinestro stood over him.
"Thank you, Parallax, but I doubt I needed the assistance." With
that, Sinestro bent down and tried to pull the ring off of Sean's finger.
"It seems to be stuck."
"Let me help with that." Concentrating, she used the battery's
power to call the ring off of Sean's finger and onto her own. Her costume
shifted from the uniform of Parallax to that of the Green Lantern Corps.
Noticing the sparkle in her eyes as she looked at it, Sinestro
took the opportunity. "Do I get a reward for this, my dear?"
Christa looked at the man who had gotten the ring she wanted for
her and realized, despite the skin color not found on Earth, just how
attractive he was. "Just....this..." With that, she took him into her arms
and the two kissed...as the scene shifted from Earth to the planet
Oa...and the Judgment Hall of the Guardians of the Universe.
Many small, white-haired, blue-skinned men clad in red robes with
the insignia of the Green Lantern Corps stared down at the two as they
broke their embrace and stared up in shock. "Green Lantern known as
Sinestro, you are charged with attacking a fellow member of the Corps and
assaulting an innocent. How do you plead?"
Part Three - The Trials
The Guardians glared down at Sinestro and Parallax. "Green Lantern
known as Sinestro, you are charged with attacking a fellow member of the
Corps and assaulting an innocent. How do you plead?"
Defiantly, Sinestro glared up at his masters. "Innocent, of
course! Give me one good reason why I should plead guilty to crimes I did
not commit."
"Sinestro, we saw you attack the yellow-haired lad lying
unconscious, possibly dying, on the floor benenath you and protect the one
known to you as Parallax. I understand that you are ruthless in your
application of justice, but this is truly evil..."
"Sirs, I call in my defense the lovely Parallax herself. Hear her
side of the story and perhaps that will persuade you."
Slowly, Christa, clad in the armored version of the Green Lantern
costume that she wore as Parallax, stepped forward to defend the being
that she had some feelings for, though whether it was love or just the
rush of power she didn't yet know. "Guardians?"
"Yes, child?"
"You talk about me like I'm some great villain out to destroy the
universe or something. All I want is what's rightfully mine. The ring of
the Green Lantern."
"Rightfully yours?" Here all the Guardians laughed at that
observation. "Rightfully yours? You stole your brother's power battery,
used that power to become Parallax, battled him, led him on a chase for
you after you wouldn't return home with him to settle this fairly, and
manipulated a Green Lantern, the accused, into another battle with him,
causing him to waste so much energy that he is in the state you see him
in now. In what way is the ring rightfully yours?"
"I'm sure I was the one Abin Sur meant the ring for when he
brought our car to the desert. I know how to use a ring like that for real
good. My brother, on the other hand, would just use it to show off." After
that, she stormed off, angry that she had been treated this way, when, in
her mind at least, her only goal was to get what was rightfully hers.
As soon as she left, the next sound head on the floor of the room
the tribunal was meeting in was "Ohhhh...what...happend...where am I?"
That said, Sean slowly sat up and shook his head to clear it...and then
fainted back into unconsciousness.
One of the Guardians then turned to his left. "Brother Ganthet,
would you please take our young Green Lantern here to his quarters? As an
alternate Green Lantern has not yet been chosen, he is Sector 2814's only
hope right now and he must not be lost."
Ganthet slowly arose from where he was sitting and used his
abilities to carry Sean into the infirmary.
"I don't believe this!" Sinestro shouted. "You treat this
imposter as well as you can, saying that he's Sector 2814's last hope.
You heard Parallax. She's the real Green Lantern of Sector 2814...and I
dare you to prove otherwise."
The Guardians merely told Sinestro to be quiet, and, when he
refused to do so, had him placed in a detention cell for being in contempt
until a decision could be reached.
"Hmmm," one of the Guardians mused, "this leaves us with a great
problem."
"Yes, it does," a second added. "Currently, Abin Sur's death due
to both his recent battle and the crash into Earth following his ship
being bombarded with Earth's yellow sunlight, and his heir's very weak
physical condition after his battles with Parallax and Sinestro as well
as, thanks to Parallax, his lack of a battery to recharge his ring, even
if he were healed, leaves Sector 2814 without a Green Lantern."
A third Guardian broke into the conversation. "We could always
assign Tomar-Re to guard both Sector 2813 and Sector 2814."
"No," the first replied, shaking his head. "That would not be fair
to such an honored Green Lantern. It seems that we will simply have to
select an alternate sooner than we expected."
"But Parallax has this Green Lantern's battery, as was just said,
and the ring, which is out of power altogether, will not be able to
recharge without it."
"Even so, we truly have no other choice. We do have some
unassigned rings and batteries which should help the alternate in this
battle."
With that, the Guardians retired to their meditation rooms.
Focusing on their goal, they summoned up images of who on Earth was
qualified to carry the ring in Sean's place. The faces of Guy Gardner, Hal
Jordan, John Stewart, and even young Kyle Rayner, as well as several other
faces, floated past them as they searched through everyone on Earth.
As they arose, they decided what they had to do. They concentrated
and projected a beam of green light towards Earth. In that beam were a
Green Lanter's ring, uniform, and battery.
"Whomever of those who has been deemed worthy to carry on as the
alternate for Earth's Green Lantern is closest to where this beam will
strike will be tranported to Oa by it. There that person will find out
what they are to do. It has been done."
Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Ganthet stood watch by Sean's bedside
as he lay still, unconscious from the pain of his wounds of his great loss
of blood. "I saw your battle with Parallax and Sinestro. If you manage to
make it through the night and survive, you will be a great Green Lantern.
Sector 2814 needs a Green Lantern like you to defend it." As he sat and
watched, Ganthet decided on his own course of action.
Ganthet's brow furrowed as he concentrated. He was glad Sean was
wearing no yellow and that Sean's blond hair, which Sinestro had
mistakenly called "yellow," was truly very nearly white, for if either of
those had not been what they were, they would have interfered with what
needed to be done. Ganthet's brow sparked to life with a green light. The
light grew and grew until it appeared almost a a flame.
The flame quickly leaped from Ganthet's brow onto Sean's. As
Ganthet continued to concentrate, the flame reached into Sean's body and
healed it. One by one, the wounds were healed and little by little, the
body was restored to the way it was before the battle.
"Ohhh," Sean moaned as he stood up, becoming conscious again.
"What happened? Where am I? The last thing I remember was...the battle
with Sinestro..." He then looked Ganthet directly in the eye. "Who...or
what...are you?"
"My name is Ganthet," came the reply. "One of the Guardians of the
Universe, the group of beings who once formed and now direct the Green
Lantern Corps."
"Good. Then you'll know where I can get some power for my ring. It
seems Christa took my power battery and the last one to hold this job used
enough energy in trying to prevent the crash and in finding me that it ran
out on me during a battle."
"No."
"No? Ganthet, or whatever your name is, I've got a planet, a whole
space sector back home to protect as Green Lantern. I don't need to be
here....wherever here is. Where am I, anyway?"
"Oa."
"All right then. Oa. The point I'm trying to make is, I don't ned
to be here on Oa. I need to be back on Earth."
"You're not ready. You still need training. Besides, we brought
you, Sinestro, and Parallax here, and you need to reamin...as a witness."
"A witness? In what? And what's this about training? I thought
that I knew all my ring could do."
"The trial of Parallax and Sinestro. And there is much that the
ring can do that you do not know about."
Sean could not believe what he had heard. His little sister on
trial? He wondered out loud what it was for and he had to admit, he did
agree with idea. What happened did seem to warrant it. Perhaps he would
reamin on Oa, at least a little bit longer...at least long enough to get
his ring recharged and see his sister and Sinestro brought to justice. And
Ganthet was right. He could feel it. He felt stronger, healthy, but not
strong enough to take on Parallax and Sinestro again. He needed the
training. "All right, I'll stay."
Ganthet's only reply was a knowing grin.
Back on Earth...in the city of Los Angeles...a green beam of light
struck the ground near where Alexandra Talbot was running to catch up with
her friends, who had just felt, apparently, a greater need to catch an
afternoon movie than she did. As she ran, her shoulder-length brown hair
began to lighten a bit from the sun.
"Whoa! Where'd that come from?" she cried out. Looking at where it
hit, she remarked. "One second faster and I'd probably have been fried by
that beam. Or," she remakred as she looked closer and deeper into the
crater left by that beam, "maybe I wouldn't have been after all." Bending
down, she looked at the uniform, ring and battery lying in the crater.
She picked the ring and battery up, then slipped the ring on and charged
it using the battery. The uniform then disappeared from the crater, next
materializing in place of the outfit she had worn today as a flash of
green light blocked the whole scene from the view of anyone but Alexandra.
"Hmmm," she mused, looking down at herself, "it's not what I'd
usually wear, but I guess it could work." Suddenly, another green beam
leapt to life, catching Alexandra up in it and carrying her through a
wormhole to Oa.
When the green beam finally set her down, Alexandra looked around
to gain her bearings. There in front of her, she saw ten little blue men
with the same insignia she saw on the costume she was wearing.
"Welcome, Alexandra Talbot," they said. "Welcome to Oa, alternate
Green Lantern of Sector 2814."
"Wait a minute. What's this Sector 2814 you're talking about? Who
or what is Green Lantern? And if I'm only the alternate, who or what's the
main one? Speaking of which, why am I only the alternate?"
One of the little blue men stepped forward. "First things first.
We are the Guardians of the Universe."
"Nice to meet you. Now, what's going on here?"
"All right. A Green Lantern is a member of a Corps of 3600 that we
founded and directed. Each Green Lantern is dedicated to protecting a
certain sector of the universe from evil, either alone or in concert with
other Green Lanterns from other worlds. In that case, the Green Lantern
Corpse acts as the first line of defense for the entire universe. By
finding and taking the battery you now carry, you have become one of them.
However, another person, Sean O'Neill, has already been assigned as the
Green Lantern for Sector 2814, the section of space which includes your
home planet of Earth. Because of this, you are his alternate, which means
that if he cannot, for some reason, act as Green Lantern for Secotr 2814,
you will act in that role in his place. Also, if he is off-world, you
will, if you wish, have the role of acting in defense of Earth as Green
Lantern should any problems arise."
"All right. Well, then I guess I have one more question."
"Why are you here? For the training in the use of your ring that
the true Green Lantern of you secotr was not able to receive before what
may have been his final battle...against a fellow Green Lantern named
Sinestro."
At that point, Alexandra began to doubt the good intentions of the
Guardians.
Meanwhile, in a detention cell on Oa, Sinestro sat and thought
about his actions. He thought about what had brought him to this detention
cell, Yes, he had been a bit ruthless in protecting his Sector, even
coming to rule it, but that was all in the line of duty. It had also made
his Sector one of the most peaceful in the Universe. Didn't that alone
balance everything out? It was that boy, that Sean O'Neill. If he hadn't
stolen Parallax'sring, then Sinestro would right now be free. And how
innocent was that human who had leapt to his defense? He thought deeper
and realized something. Wouldn't the Guardians know if O'Neill had stolen
the ring? Would they really call him a member of the Corps if the ring was
not his by right? And then Sinestro realized what he had done. At that
moment, he screamed Parallax's name in pain and rage at what she had done.
Meanwhile, Parallax realized that she had a life to resume as
Christa O'Neill. She pointed her arms skyward and felt the rush of energy
that would lead her back to Earth. Suddenly she felt some of the green
energy surround her in a restraining band. She turned and nearly laughed
at what she saw. For there was a squirrel like something out of a cartoon
dressed ina Green Lantern's uniform projecting the band at her from its
Green Lantern ring. "And who might you be?" she asked.
"The Green Lantern of Sector 1014," it replied. "And don't try to
get away, Parallax, because I'll just hold you here."
"Oh, is that so? Well, it's not like you had a choice. Oh...and by
the way, neither do I," she said as she used the energy in her costume to
propel herself backwards as far and as fast as she could, finally stopping
a light-minute away, and then projected a beam of green light straight at
the Green Lantern restraining her. The beam reached him as yellow light,
which struck his ring, destroying it and causing his head to hit the
floor due to the explosive backlash, knocking him out.
Seeing her opportunity, Parallax found and entered the wormhole
which led form Oa to Earth. As she flew back home, she noticed
something standing by the wreckage of Abin Sur's ship. It was a golden
robotic humanoid, rising to its feet. It shook the dust off itself. She
then heard its howl of rage as it realized the battery it was searching
for was not here on Earth. Seeing a potential ally to help her take
revenge on the Guardians for the way they had treated her, she landed. As
soon as she did, its hand was around her throat and strangling her.
"You can't fool us with that costume," it said in a voice that
sounded somewhat like an insect's drone. "You have the energy of the
battery about you, so we know you are a Green Lantern before we kill you,
Lantern. Where is Oa?"
Parallax managed to gasp out, "Not...Green...Lantern.
Just...have...battery. Let....me...go.
Tell....me...about...yourself...and...I'll...tell...you."
The grip relaxed and she was free. The being began its story. "We
are Legion. Long ago, we were a race called the Tchk-Tchkii. We were made
up of hives whose sole drive was expansion, and so we did on our
homeworld, Tchk-Tchk. But when that ws over and one hive was supreme, we
ran out of room. So we turned to the stars. The Guardians thought we were
too warlike, so they called us a threat and used their Green Lanterns to
imprison us on Tchk-Tchk. But we were too many, and so we exhausted all
our supplies of land and food too quickly. We beagn dying with no new
young ones to replace us. So we created soul jars to contain our essences
and keep those alive. Once we had all died, we created this body and broke
the barrier the Green Lanterns had set around our world. We swore to get
revenge on the Guardians and ever since, we have been killing their
precious Green Lanterns one by one."
Suddenly she had a new idea. She would not return to her old life.
"Legion, I am Parallax. I have come to hate the Guardians as well. I could
simply give you the location of Oa, but alone, we both know that we would
be defeated by the combined Green Lantern Corps. Why not join forces and
battle them together? The two of us together, as powerful as we are,
should definitely be able to defeat them and their Green Lantern Corps."
The mighty being thought. Finally, it reached a decision. "Yes, we
will join you and together we shall destroy the Guardians."
Back on Oa, Ganthet had told the rest of the Guardians of how he
had healed Sean and how he was willing to undergo the training. He, in
turn, was told of how Alexandra Talbot had been given a Green Lantern ring
and battery and selected as the alternate Green Lantern of Earth. The
decision was made to let the two train together and, so, Tomar-Re was
contacted and asked to defend both sctors while the two Green Lanterns
were being trained. It was decided that the presentation of evidence and
possible sentencing of Sinestro and Parallax would be delayed until after
the training. Unbeknownst to them, Parallax and Legion had managed to
return quickly to Oa, and had been listening to their conversation. The
two then decided that during the trial would be the best time to strike.
With that in mind, Kilowog was asked to train them as rapidly as
possible. After Sean had recharged his ring from Alexandra's battery, the
training began with a rapid succession of mind scans, to which both
responded increasing their psychic defenses until each had developed the
psychic defenses needed to operate effectively as a Green Lantern. They
learned how to combine willpowers to gain greater powr in battle and faced
the secret fears each had, defeating them both. They learned how to not
only shape the enrgy into green objects, but into objects of othr colors
and into energy duplicates of themselves. They learned all about the
ring's capabilities, ring-proplled flight, and thanks to the crash course
they received, which stopped only to allow them to recharge their rings
from Alexandra's battery, they were ready in a few Earth days.
At last, the trial was ready to begin again. Green Lanterns and
Guardians alike gathered in the Guardians' council chambers to watch the
presentation of any new evidence that would be presented and hear the
sentence of the Guardians upon Parallax and Sinestro.
"Does anyone have any new evidence to present?" the head of the
Guardians asked to all those in the court.
Sean stood up. "I do, sir. I wish to tell the court my view of the
entire story."
"Go ahead."
Sean then proceeded to tell them the entire story, how he, his
sister, Christa, and his best friend Buddy had been driving home when a
green beam picked them up and carried them to the desert near Abin Sur's
spaceship. Buddy had been too scared to go into the ship, so he and
Christa had entered themselves. They found in the ship a dying Abin Sur,
who had mentally told Sean that he was to be the next Green Lantern and
explained all about the Green Lantern, the Corps, the ring, and the
battery to Sean. Although she had seemed fine about it at first, for some
reason, Christa somehow soon grew to think that Sean would just use the
power to show oof, and so she stole his personal battery and combined with
it and its energy to become Parallax. He told them about the chase and how
she had lied to Sinestro and said that the ring was really hers and that
Sean had stolen it, causing the battle.
In conclusion, he added, "In other words, Sinestro was acting on
the only information he had when he attacked me. Buddy was hurt because he
leaped in front of a blast Sinestro had fired at me."
"Is this true, Sinestro?" the Guardian who had continued the trial
asked.
"Yes, it is," Sinestro, replied, guiltily.
"Then I have no choice but to declare you...." The last word was
cut off by a blast of green energy which exploded through the wall of the
council chambers.
Parallax looked down at all those assembled. Behind her Legion
stood, malevloent grin on his face. "Guardians!" she yelled, pointing an
accusing finger at them. "Those you have wronged have returned to Oa...and
we're out for revenge!"
Part Four - The Battles of the Light
"Guardians!" Parallax yelled, pointing an accusing finger at them.
"Those you have wronged have returned to Oa...and we're out for revenge!"
Sean and Alexandra turned and both stared at each other, amazed,
then both at once turned to Ganthet. "Okay, Ganthet," Sean began. "I know
what my sister's problem is, but..."
Now Alexandra stared at Sean. "That woman dressed in that green
armor is your sister? Anyway," she continued along Sean's line of thought,
"what's the other guy's problem? And who is the other guy, anyway?"
Ganthet replied, "All about the being with Parallax can be found
in the Central Power Battery. All you need to do is use your rings to
absorb that information."
With that, both sent a green beam into the core of the Central
Power Battery, drawing out in the process the same story that Legion
himself told Parallax upon their meeting.
Meanwhile, the battle had begun in earnest as Green Lantern after
Green Lantern hurled themselves at the two villains. Unfortunately,
Legion's armor was yellow, and so he had too much physical power, and
Parallax, well, once she had learned a good method to dealing with a
problem, she stuck with it. Soon, the remaining 3599 Green Lanterns were
reduced to a mere 1200 as those whose rings were not destroyed by Parallax
found themselves falling beore the might of Legion.
Sean turned to Alexandra. "Which do you want to fight?"
"Are you saying the two of us should team up?" she replied.
"Why not? After all, for right now at least, we are both the Green
Lanterns of Sector 2814."
"Well then," she answered, "sounds like a good enough idea to me."
"So, which do you want to fight."
"Hmmm, well, I think I'll take Legion on."
"Murg," Sean muttered in frustration. "That leaves me to deal with
the one being in the universe who knows the easiest was to destroy a Green
Lantern's ring. My own sister. But," he added, in a burst of inspiration,
"I think I have an idea that can stop her, or at least reduce the amount
of destruction Oa's facing."
In a green burst of light, he zoomed off backwards after raising
his protective shield, daring Parallax to follow him. Even if it didn't work, he thought, if I can get far enough away from her, I can turn her trick against her and destroy her
power source with my own beam. Ironically enough, his thoughts contniued,
her source of power is my battery. Either way this plays itself out, if
I'm going to stay a Green Lantern, I'm going to need a new battery.
Parallax didn't follow him. Instead, she fired another beam at
him. Her brow furrowed in concentration, she caused its color to
red-shift, from green to yellow and then to orange, forming a missile out
of the energy.
"Oh, great," he muttered. "Just great. At the speed I'm
travelling, when I finally stop, it'll be violet-shifted to yellow when it
reaches me. Yellow, the one color my ring can't defend against. Murg."
Suddenly an idea struck him like a boxer's fist. He had planned to
stop the necessary distance away to send a beam that would red-shift one
level, turning his green beam into a yellow one when it reached her, but
what if....? Focusing his willpower, he concentrated on finding the amount
of distance he would have to travel in order for his beam's color to
red-shift two levels rather than one. He'd have to adapt his beam, but it
could work. And it would also violet-shift the missile not to yellow, but
back to green, a color his ring could defend against. At that distance
away, he'd have to violet-shift the color of his energy for a while to
blue, but he could do it.
Increasing his speed and letting his ring guide him, he stopped
once he had reached the proper distance to try this solution. Seeing the
missile fast approaching him, he focused his ring into creating a giant
tennis racket. He then proceeded to knock the green missile right back on
course to its creator. Next, he violet-shifted the color of his light to
blue and projected the light outwards, creating a giant movie projector
which shot out a blue beam of light as if a movie had just begun. He
decided to aim the beam not to destroy his battery or to kill Parallax,
but merely to stun her.
Meanwhile, Alexandra was, to say the least, having trouble with
Legion. She had gotten all the other Green Lanterns to take cover, telling
them that having only one Green Lantern for a target was much better than
having 1199. She had now come to regret it. No matter what her ring
conjured up, Legion's golden armor stood against it. "Isn't there anything
that'll stop you?" she yelled.
"Nothing you can do can stop us, foolish Green Lantern, for we are
Legion. Our armored body is colored the only color that can stop your evil
light. Yellow." Alexandra could see the wicked grin on its face as it
answered with those words.
"Oh, great." Thinking of something else to do, she decided to stop
using the ring and leapt straight at Legion, hoping to knock him down with
a physical attack, and it seemed to work. Legion was bowled over by the
sudden force of her impact, and he went down, stunned once he hit his head
on the ground. Gathering up some dirt, she packed it into clumps and
placed those clumps on several spots on Legion. "And that," she said,
wiping her hands, confident in victory, "is that."
She walked to the rest of the Green Lanterns. "It was a piece of
cake," she said smugly. "He was winning for a while, but once I stopped
using the ring, I knocked him down pretty easily. He obviously wasn't
expecting something like that. In fact, I put a few clumps of dirt on him,
so there's some spots on him that the rest of you can use your rings to
carry him with."
One of the Guardians ordered the Green Lantern known as Squagga to
be the one who would transport Legion back to his home planet of
Tchk-Tchk. Squagga moved out to where Legion lay, created some chains out
of green energy, wrapping them around the cumps of dirt on Legion's armor
as he did. Meanwhile, Ganthet angirly took Alexandra aside.
"I don't know why the other Guardians chose you, but they did.
You're a Green Lantern now, and as a Green Lantern, you've got to start
taking your responsibility more seriously than you obviously have been."
"What do you mean?"
"You were given that ring for a reason. As a Green Lantern, you
can't just decide that you're not going to use it when hitting and
punching someone would be easier. If you're going to hit someone in a
battle, as long as you've got the ring, you're going to have to balance
that with the power of your ring. Use them together. Don't just use one
for a while, almost as a distraction, and then decide when that's not
working to use the other one."
"All right. I'll work on that. Anything else?"
"When your methods work and those of others don't, don't be
arrogant about it. You had a solution that worked, that's all. It doesn't
make you a better Green Lantern. It just made you a Green Lantern with a
better solution this time. You acted so smug and superior around beings
who, because of their experience if nothing else, are twice the Green
Lantern you are, just because you got lucky once. And one other thing.
When you're facing an opponent with the power that Legion has, keep your
back covered, if not by another Green Lantern, by a ring's creation that
can watch him. He may have only appeared to be knocked out."
"Look, Ganthet, you're right. I did get lucky. But I did beat
Legion, a being who's killed several Green Lanterns, and who scares the
Corps and you Guardians. Maybe I have a right to feel a little smug.
Taking him down was so easy, it seems a joke that it hasn't been done
before."
His face downcast, Ganthet replied, "I hoped you would see the
mistake you made by letting yourself feel superior to the rest of us.
Don't you understand, Alexandra? It was easy for you, maybe too easy."
"Are you saying that he let me win?"
"I'm not saying anything for certain. But it is a possibility."
"You're right. It is," she retorted, her tone becoming more and
more angry with Ganthet, and no wonder. He was trying to say that not only
did she just get lucky, she hadn't even gotten lucky and really won. "And
it's also a possibility that all of you Green Lanterns and Guardians have
gotten yourselves frightened over nothing, isn't it?"
"It is a possibility. But you are a Green Lantern. Therefore, as a
Guardian, I could order you to keep an eye on Legion and make sure he is
truly defeated. But I won't. All I'm saying is to be prepared for
anything, even the worst. Even Green Lanterns with years of experience can
make the mistake of thinking an enemy's defeated when he's not, Alexandra,
and you're a new Green Lantern."
"You're right," Alexandra mumbled, realizing that it was her turn
to feel a bit ashamed. "You're right. It's just that, well, I never
thought defeating an enemy would feel so good,and I don't want to lose
that feeling."
"There's no shame in that, Alexandra. The shame comes when you let
yourself rush off without thinking and so make a bigger mistake than you
would have if you thought. It also comes when you let what may seem a
victory blind you to the possibility of it being anything but a complete
victory."
"That's it," she replied, her confidence in herself restored. "I'm
going after Legion." Raising her protective shield and using her ring, she
flew off after Squagga and the Corps' gold-plated captive.
Parallax gloated in her victory. She had beaten so many of the
Green Lanterns with her trick for destroying their rings. If only she had
been able to permanently defeat her brother. It frustrated her that after
she had struck him down, someone had managed to heal him and recharge his
ring.
"Oh, well," she gloated. "All that's about to change, starting
now. That missile I've launched should have reached him by now, and with
the violet-shift, it should have been colored yellow, the one color the
Green Lantern's precious rings can't defend them against. His destruction
will be the perfect revenge on him, the Green Lantern Corps, and those
oh-so-superior Guardians. And then, once my brother's down, well, I think
I'll go after that other human Green Lantern that was with him."
She began to laugh, an evil laugh that truly summarized the being
she had become. She'd felt the rush of power, and let it corrupt her. She
saw the orange missile she had sent after him returning back to her.
Letting it hit her without harm, she began to laugh again. She laughed so
hard that she didn't see the yellow beam that struck her squarely in the
chest, knocking her unconscious.
Sean decided that he'd hit her with that beam of force enough. She
should be out by now, he thought. So, he willed his ring to move him at
such a pace that, by the time he reached Oa, he'd be low enough on power
that he'd need to recharge his ring. Hopefully, if all worked out, he'd be
able to get his lantern back and recharge his ring.
After what seemed like hours, Sean reached the surface of Oa, his
uniform fading back into the street clothes he had been wearing when all
this started. Just as he arrived, Parallax woke up.
"There's just two things I want to know, brother," she said in a
way that almost made it a snakelike hiss. "One, how did you manage to
knock that missile back to me? When it reached you, the violet-shift
should have caused it to turn yellow, making you unable to defend yourself
and killing you on impact. Two, why stun me with that yellow beam? Why not
just sacrifice your battery and destroy a villain who will only stop by
being destroyed?"
"Easy enough to answer," he replied. "As to the first, I figured
it out when I saw the missile was orange. At the distance that it happens,
yes, it would have turned yellow, making me unable to defend myself if I
stopped then. But I didn't. I let my ring guide me further back, such that
the red-shift and violet-shift was not one but two levels. Thus, when the
missile reached me, it was green, not yellow. I also decided to try your
little trick myself. I violet-shifted the color of my ring's energy
temporarily so that it projected blue light instead of green. By the time
it would reach you, it would be yellow, making you just as defenseless. As
for why I just decided to stun you for a little bit, well, you are my
sister and I really do care about you. But, sis, there's just one thing
left for me to do."
"What's that?" she said, with a tone that dared him to try
anything he could with her.
"This," he said, curling his ring hand into a fist and placing
that fist near the lantern symbol on her chest. He then began to intone an
oath, "In brightest day. In blackest night. No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's
light!"
As he intoned the last three words, the lantern inside Parallax's
armor shone brighter than it ever had before. He could see the figure
before him begin to waver, to change, until finally, the two were
separated. His ring hand was in his lantern and there where Parallax had
been was Christa, looking just as she had when they first met Abin Sur. A
look of extreme confusion was on her face.
"Sean," she said in surprise and almost awe as she saw him in his
Green Lantern uniform once more. Then the awe was lost and she continued
on, completely bewildered, "Where are we, Sean? The last thing I remember
was being in that alien's ship and then...something came out of that
lantern. Something that told me you were only going to use the ring to
show off, that you didn't deserve it, and that I would be a better Green
Lantern than you would."
"Do you remember anything after that, Christa?"
"No, I don't. Should I?"
Feeling extremely emotional, he whispered, "It's good to have you
back, Sis." She rushed up to him and the two of them hugged each other. If
one could look closely in Sean's eye, one could see a tear of joy from
having his real sister back and not the thing that was Parallax pretending
to be Christa. If making his ring hand into a fist and placing it near the
lantern symbol hadn't been enough...if he had to actually hit her, even as
powerful and evil as she was as Parallax, could he go through with it?
Stunning her with a ring-beam was one thing, but could he really hit her,
his sister? He decided he couldn't. But he decided one thing more. He
needed to be Green Lantern, if only to make sure nothing else like this
ever happened again. He suddenly remembered the other duty he had to
attend to. In a flash of green light, he was gone.
He soon reached the spot where he saw the other Green Lanterns and
the Guardians. Flying down, he shouted, a smile coming to his face, "Hey,
guys! What's going on? Where's Legion and Alexandra?"
Kilowog turned to him. "Well, you poozer," he said in a voice that
could only have been what he sounded like through the translator on Sean's
ring, "Alexandra beat Legion by knocking him down physically instead of
with her ring, Squagga's got him, and for some reason, Alexandra just flew
off after both of 'em."
"Well, then everything seems to be fine, I guess. Parallax has
been defeated, and Legion's being hauled back to Tchk-Tchk, so I'll just
collect Alexandra and my sister and we'll head back to Earth until the
next time we're called to Oa."
Now many of the Green Lanterns let a look of surprise and perhaps
a bit of admiration spread over their faces. He heard both Kilowog and
Tomar-Re say through his ring's translator, "You took down Parallax? The
lady who destroyed the rings of so many Green Lanterns?"
"Yep, at least for now. Managed to get my battery back, too." Sean
held it up for all to see. A look of confidence spread over his face.
One of the Guardians turned to him. "Did you find anything out
about Parallax?"
"Yes, I did. Apparently something within the battery itself took
Christa over, convincing her of those things that Parallax believed. Not
only that, but Christa doesn't even seem to remember anything about what
went on while she was Parallax. This is just a bit of guesswork on my
part, but my bet is that if Christa hadn't been there, it would have
waited until I had great enough pain to awaken it, oh, something like the
destruction of Tarleton, and then it would have spread into me through my
ring and taken me over instead."
"Then," Ganthet continued, picking up on Sean's line of thought,
"as a Green Lantern and one already familiar with how to use the power,
you would have been able to cause greater desctruction than Christa did,
perhaps even the deaths of the entire Corps and most of the Guardians. It
seems, then, that we were lucky that a Parallax that the Green Lantern
Corps could stop was created before a Parallax was created that they could
not stop."
"You're probably right. Well, best not to dwell on it. I'll just
get Alexandra and all three of us wil be on our way." A flash of light and
Sean had zoomed off to catch up with Alexandra and Squagga.
Meanwhile, Alexandra had finally caught up with Squagga. She saw
Legion, still bound in the chains he had been since Squagga left Oa bound
for Tchk-Tchk.
"Squagga," she yelled, "could you use some help toting Legion
there? I mean, two of us could probably transport him a lot more easily
than just one."
"I would appreciate that very much, Alexandra Talbot," came the
reply. With that, Alexandra released a beam of green light from her ring,
strengthening the chains.
Not long afterwards, she heard a yell. "Alexandra! Hey, Alex!
Ready to head back towards Earth?" It was Sean, flying towards them, green
light shining around him to protect him from the vaccuum of space.
"No, Sean, not yet. Let me help Squagga carry Legion back to
Tchk-Tchk. By the way, don't call me Alex!" she yelled back to him.
"I'll try to remember that, thanks. But, somehow, I don't think
Legion's ready to go back quite yet," Sean yelled back, pointing up and to
the left of Alexandra.
"What do you mean, Sean?" It was then that she turned and noticed
what Sean's conversation had caused her to miss. She was the only one
whose ring was still projecting chains around Legion. There he stood with
a murderous gleam in his eye. In his right hand he held Squagga's lifeless
body by the neck. "We have two words for you," he said menacingly. "YOU'RE
NEXT!"
Part V - The Spreading of the Light
"We have two words for you," Legion said, a menacing tone in its
voice. "You're next!" Alexandra let out a silent scream as Legion's golden
hand reached out for her neck.
All of a sudden a green bowling ball hit Legion in a spot that had
been covered by dust, knocking it over. "I don't think so," Sean intoned
as he flew up to where Legion lay senseless, at least for a bit. Using his
ring again, he created a giant green pin setter that caught Legion around
the same spots, lifting him up and slamming him back down again.
Alexandra turned, smiling and laughing as hard as she could. "You
beat him with a bowling ball and a pin setter?"
"Hey, you have to admit, I really bowled him over," was Sean's
only answer. As Alexandra groaned from the pun, the two flew off, little
realizing that as they were heading back to Oa, Legion was recovering.
Soon, although they did not realize it, they were being followed by the
force that had killed several Green Lanterns.
Back on Oa, the Guardians had met to finish Sinestro's trial.
"Sinestro, Green Lantern of Sector 1417, we have no choice but to find you
innocent of the charges levied against you. You were acting on the
information you had at that time. For that reason you will not be
imprisoned in the antimatter universe of Qward," the sentence came.
"Thank you, Guardians, thank you" Sinestro wiped his brow in
relief.
"Don't get comfortable, Sinestro! There is still the other charge
against you. This charge, improper use of the position of Green Lantern,
will not be brought up at this trial because it does not relate to these
charges. We are, however, stripping you of your ring and position of Green
Lantern of Sector 1417."
"What? Why?" came the astonished reply.
"Simply put, you grew too reckless, reckless enough that you could
become a danger to other Green Lanterns. Sean was wearing a Green
Lantern's uniform at the time, and yet you accepted Parallax's word as the
absolute truth. You did not think that perhaps she might have been lying,
or think of any other possibilities. Instead, you instantly attacked. LEt
me ask you a question: was he a threat to the universe, to you, to your
sector, to an innocent in his sector, to his planet, or to his entrie
sector by wearing that Green Lantern uniform?"
Even Sinestro had to admit it. "No, Guardians, he wasn't. You're
right. For one thing, I should have heard his side of the story. I had no
way of determining instantly, by word or action, that he was a threat at
all." With that, Sinestro took off his ring and tossed it in front of the
judges' bench the Guardians sat behind. As his clothes shifted back to the
usual styule of Korugarians, his last action as a Green Lantern was to
simply walk out of the room. He looked back one last time, to see a new
Korugarian, Katma Tui, being asked to come forwards and take the ring that
had once been his.
Christa O'Neill stood on Oa's surface and wondered what has
happened to her for that period of time. She remembered that "spirit" or
whatever it was entering her body, but after that...nothing. Absolutely
nothing. It was as if whatever had taken her over had shoved her down so
far in her mind that she had no way of being aware of what was going on at
that time. She could still feel the pain as that being fought her for
control of her body.
Listen, little girl, she could hear it say in her mind, this body
is mine now. You opened the battery, you let me in, let this bag of flesh
that is this body go! It belongs to me!
No, Christa thought back angrily. It's not your body. It's my
body. Sean freed me from having to let you be in control by drawing his
bettery out of my body, so I don't have to obey you. This is my body, and
I'll fight you for it if I have to!
I dare you, was the being's only reply.
And so the fight began. The being pushed against her and she
against it, each one vying for control. With each strike successfully made
on either side, Christa's body became racked with pain, as did Christa's
mental self, and as did the spirit-being that made her into Parallax. The
only way the pain would top was for one side to win. When that would be
neither side knew, for neither side was willing to surrender.
Meanwhile, both Sean and Alexandra had nearly reached Oa when they
heard a noise that almost sounded like a growl. Turning behind them, they
both saw Legion. "Okay, Alexandra, looks like this is where I leave it to
you," Sean relented. "You fought Legion before I did. How'd you beat him
exactly?"
"Um," she nervously replied. "I don't know if this would work in
space, but I leapt at him and knocked him down after deciding I wouldn't
use my ring in his defeat, since that didn't seem to be working."
"Hmm," Sean thought. "Maybe we can't knock him down in space, but
if we can use our rings to generate enough force...."
"We can knock him back just as hard?"
"Maybe. After all, his armor is golden and our rings can't affect
yellow objects. We'd have to be working by starting at this distance,
which, unfortunately, means that from here, we can't see the dirt clumps.
And who knows, they might have come loose from him in his voyage through
space. If that doesn't work, I've got a Plan B that probably will. If we
have to go to Plan B, just make sure you've got your lantern with you."
"Well, let's get to it!" Alexandra zoomed off, leaving Sean behind
to wonder exactly why the other Guardians had chosen her as a Green
Lantern. Surely there had to be another person out there fit to be a Green
Lantern whose persoanlity suited his better. Oh, well, he thought. Maybe
the hope is that by pairing people together who are such opposites, one
great Green Lantern would come out of it. He had to admit, though, she was
attractive, and that long brown hair of hers made her even more so. Sean
then zoomed behind, willing his ring to keep surrounding his body with
more and more force. Hopefully, Alexandra'd remembered to do the same
thing.
The next thing he knew, he saw Legion and Alexandra battling it
out like two gladiators. "Murg," he mumbled, hitting his head. Attractive
she may have been, and probably intelligent, too, but once she had a
reason to, Alexandra was way too willing to fight. He stored that away in
case he met her socially.
"Alexandra!" he yelled towards her. "The ring! Use the ring!" He
suddenly saw the light of remembrance flash in her eyes as she suddenly
forgot the fight and remembered the plan. Deciding he'd go through with
it, anyway, Sean quickly flew at the spot on Legion's chest where he'd
seen a dirt clump before....seeing just before he was to hit that the dirt
clumps had come loose from Legion, whose armor was completely golden once
again.
"Alexandra, would you please come here for a second?" he asked.
"Yes,?" she replied so sweetly that it had to be sarcastic as she
flew up to him.
"Do you have any ideas on how to deal with Legion?"
"Well, actually, yes, I do. We could lure him back to Tchk-Tchk
with our rings."
"How?" Now Sean had to admit he was impressed. The plan just might
work.
"Well, one of two ways. We could try willing our rings to make use
invisible and project energy twins of ourselves heading towards
Tchk-Tchk...or we could just hope he's only after us now, fly to Tchk-Tchk
and seal him in like the Corps did long ago."
"It might work, Alexandra," Sean mused. "It just might. The
problem with both your plans is that they depend on Legion being after us.
He's not, though. He's after all the Green Lantern Corps and especially
the Guardians."
"Well, do you have a better plan?"
"I have a plan that might at least delay him long enough for us to
get back to Oa and get all the rest of the Green Lantern Corps and the
Guardians to help us lure him to Tchk-Tchk."
"Well, what is it?"
With that, Sean pointed his ring straight at Legion, explaining as
he did so. "It's like this. Legion can block our rings from hitting him,
but not the space around him. So...."
"So you're going to will your ring to affect the space around
him?"
"Right. Back me up, will you?" With the extra energy of
Alexandra's ring pouring into him, he felt strong enough that it just
might work. He pushed all his willpower through the ring, causing the
space around Legion to solidify and become super-dense matter. When all
was said and done, the matter prison Sean had come up with was as dense as
the matter in a newborn star. Hopefully, it would be enough. He decided to
recharge his ring. "You okay, Alexandra?"
"Yes," came the reply, "A little bit of a headache, though."
"Good to hear that you're okay," Sean answered back as he stuck
his ring in the battery, then intoned his oath, causing him to focus his
will and make recharging easier. Alexandra recahrged her ring not long
after. "Well, Sean, now what?" she asked.
"Hmmm, it seems to be holding Legion well enough. Let's see if we
can just use our rings to push him back to Tchk-Tchk."
"Are you sure we should do this? Maybe we should find out what the
Guardians want us to do before we try anything like this."
"You're right, Alexandra. But no reason we can't carry him with
us." With that, Sean willed his ring to create a giant green sleigh with a
harness attached. "Okay, load him into the back seat of the sleigh."
Indigant, Alexandra asked, "You don't expect me to wear that
harness, do you? I'm not a horse. I'm not a reindeer."
"Of course I don't expect you to wear the harness."
"Oh, you're going to wear it then."
"Not a ghost of a chance."
"Then how...?"
"Get in the front seat and watch."
Seeing no other choice that would allow them to get both of them
and Legion to Oa, Alexandra climbed in. Then, so did Sean. As soon as he
climbed in, he used all his willpower again, creating nine reindeer. Each
was harnessed to the seligh, all in pairs except for the one in front,
which, as an extra touch, Sean had willed to have a red nose what lighted
up like a Christmas tree bulb. "Ho, Ho, Ho," he laughed. "Just call me
Sean-ta Claus." With that, he gave a command to the reindeer and they were
off to Oa. As soon as they were off, Alexandra told him, "One more pun
like that with the ring, and I swear, I'll get to be Earth's main Green
Lantern a lot faster."
Fortunately the sleigh was fast enough that the ride only took a
few hours.
As they arrived, Sean noticed something. It was Christa in her
Parallax costume and in manacles made of green energy. "What is this?" he
asked, half-furious at this treatment of his sister and half-confused as
to why she had apparently become Parallax again.
"Well," Ganthet replied, putting a comforting hand on Sean's
shoulder, "all I can say is I'm sorry, Sean. Christa's gone. We noticed a
surge of green energy not far from where we stand now. When we reached
that place, everything that was truly your sister had died. She had
become Parallax again. That spirit was the only one inside her body."