Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Fanfic DC2's Tales of the GLC: VIDAR! a prelude to Legion!

Good day!

This is a soon to be released mini-series on the DC2 Universe web site! It is a Tales of the Green Lantern Corps 3 issue special called Vidar. It is a prelude to the Legion of Superheroes ongoing that will also be written by me.

It sets the stage for the state of the United Planets in the 31st Century of the DC2 Universe . I know the alteration of Vidar's origin may seem blasphemous... but I love the Legion in all it's forms... and I hope you will enjoy!

Written by: Scott Kruger
Cover by: Jim Dufresne & Scott Kruger
Edited by: Julie Kruger

My name is Vidar… I’m the current Green Lantern of Sector 2814.

Though Earth is not my home world, I’ve felt compelled to stay, for the sake of my wife and son. It’s been an odd adjustment, after growing up on Titan. But living there was no picnic either since I never did develop the ability to read minds… I consider that my fathers gift. He was a Krellian diplomat, she was a Titan priestess.

Earth… Since the early days, the birth of what we consider modern civilization, the name Green Lantern has become synonymous with the word hero. In those earlier times Earth needed heroes and, indeed, had several Green Lanterns to look after her. Names recorded in the annals of the Book of OA, like Jordan, Stewart, Rayner… all Green Lantern’s of Earth. All born here. A feat unheard of before or after that period in time... On Earth, at least. Three deemed worthy of bearing a ring of power, all within a generation or two, all from the same continent of this planet. This one in fact. Maybe that’s why I’ve followed my wife to the planet of her birth, to be on a planet that has nurtured many of us.

I don’t long to return to the world of my birth. Earth is my home now… It’s become much more hospitable in recent centuries due to the invention of climate control. It also helps that it’s people stopped killing each other over trivial things, such as land and religious beliefs.

In fact, it was apparent, until recently, that as Green Lantern of sector 2814, my services were rarely, if ever, required. Before, there were rare occasions where I had to use my power ring to stop robberies and random acts of violence. Unfortunately, even with advances in modern technology, poverty and ‘human’ nature still remain. Greed’s always been a driving factor… But recently this system of planets and others, in my sector specifically, have seen a rise in crime.

Not so much here on Earth, but Titan… Orando, other colony worlds.

…Maybe one day, a thousand years from now my name will be found in the Book, among the other legends.

From the journal of Vidar, Green Lantern 2814, May 2992

Tales of the Green Lantern Corps – Vidar
Chapter 1: Secret Cargo

Titan airspace, Sector 2814.

Space pirates… the scourge of the United Planets. Rarely are they ever seen this close to Earth… Earthgov has actually cracked the whip on these guys. 25 to life on their first offense, that’s if they’re caught. The Science Police have a strict ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ policy ever since the raid of ’89. Those pirates weren’t smuggling goods… they were dealing in slaves. Earthgov figures, civilians are better off dead than stuck as a Khund slave, or worse at the hands of the Durlan’s.

That’s when the Guardians got involved and ordered me to keep an eye on the space lanes. Since I started, I taken out a few slaving cartels and rescued thousands of slaves.

These Frakkers aren’t that bad though. Stealing food supplies from cargo ships. Who knows where they were hauling them? Tons of settlements on the Dominion frontier that pay top dollar for goods. Elia itself pays triple the going rate for Earth food alone. Damned Dominators acquired a real taste for it when they attempted an invasion long before the formation of Earthgov. Hell, rumor has it the Dominion has had sleeper agents on Earth for well over a thousand years.

I approach the freighter carefully from below and use my ring to slice a nice hole through their hull in the cargo compartment. I seal it quick with the ring. So fast, I’m on board before they even determine what hit them. Old freighter… Daxamite, by the look of it, no external cams or sensors. If I’m lucky, it would have been stolen from Daxam. If there are Daxamite’s on board, under Earth’s yellow Sun, I may be in a bit of trouble.

I look around the cargo hold and confirm it’s definitely food. Hawaii Province, Pacific region of Earth. Nice place to visit. Food pirates. I was hoping for something bigger… It couldn’t have been weapons after all? I’ve been on the trail of these guys for days… I must be getting old.

Still no sign of the pirates… these guys must not be too keen. I begin to run a diagnostic on the nav computer from a console I find in the hold when I hear voices…

“… Yeah… No, I’m lookin’.” Interlac, Braalian accent. “Well, if you’d installed the sprocking sensor instead of blowing our cred’s at the casino on Terrell we’d already know what hit us!”

He walks in unarmed, just a repair kit slung over his shoulder. Not a Daxamite… I relax a bit. No metal on me… shouldn’t put up too much of a fight. Still, I should at least make it fun. I look around and make sure all the proper materials are there. I use my ring to puncture a hole in the hull the size of a needle.

Instantly the atmo starts leaking with a whine and the ship bucks, wildly.

“Eep!” the guy actually squealed before using his magno-power to plug the hole with a stray sheet of metal.

“What in Valor’s name was that?” the guys personal comm. unit barked… I had to stifle my laugh. These guys are far from pro.

“Something else else else must have hit us. Started venting air.”

“Well, did you fix it?”

“No, I figured we’d suffocate. Yeah… I got it.”

Time to really make these guy sweat. I use the ring again, but this time I puncture the hull 10 times in different areas of the cargo hold.

“AAAAHHHHH!!!” The guy’s screaming and flinging sheet metal left and right to cover the holes. “Are you flying us through a frakkin’ meteor shower?”

My ring signifies that it’s done with the nav computer diagnostic. I take my eyes off the scatter brained Braalian for a minute to read the results… Figures… Elia. Dominion home world. Blasted Disk-Heads. Why the Guardians haven’t destroyed these Frakks already, I’ll never know. But is that the destination, or the origination point?

Waitaminute… Why the sprock would a Braalian work for the Dominion? This guy must really be desperate. It’s times like these I wish I grew up with my mothers’ ability to read minds instead of my fathers’ ability to lose hair.

I feel a sudden burning sensation in my shoulder that snaps me out of my thought. I turn to see the Braalian running full sprint out of the hold. He stops and shuts the blast doors. Too fast, couldn’t stop the door from closing. The cargo hold doors open. I go flying out of the ship headfirst, along with the rest of the cargo.

Frakker shot me! Must have had a concealed yellow particle beam blaster. Damn. So much for my fun.

~

The engineer ran from the cargo hold to the bridge in a panic, dropping his tool satchel in the process.

“Go!” he shouts throwing himself into his chair at the navigation console.

“What the Hell did you do?” the pilot asks.

“Go… Green…* pant*… Lantern!”

“‘Nuff said!” the pilot immediately jerks the control yolk to the right and slams his foot on the acceleration pedal. “Dump the cargo container… we’ll get better speed.”

“… *pant*… acknowledged!”

The ship accelerates quickly after jettisoning the cargo container.

“Ellison to Elia command,” the ships pilot barks into the headset hanging from his ear.

No response.

“Ellison to Elia command, please come in…”

“Ellisonnn… this had betterrr be good.” The face of a diskless Dominator popped on the control screen (Note: Dominators rank and social status are determined by the disk (or caste) size on their forehead, even a Dominator without a disk considers themselves superior to all other species).

“We had to dump our cargo and run. We were boarded by the Green Lantern of this sector…”

“Unnacceptable Huumannn. You werrre paid forrr a serrrvice in advannce. We expect…”

“We can’t go up against a Green lantern!” Ellison shouts back into his microphone. “And we’re Braalian!”

“How unforrrtunnate forrr you. We prrrovided you with weaponnns to defeat a Grrreenn Lannterrrnn,” it spat back.

“Ellison, no sign of the Green Lantern on our rear sensor. We’re not being trailed.” The engineer said finally relaxing after catching his breath. He leans back in his chair exhaling.

“We will wire you your money as soon as we return to Bra…”

“Ellison, full stop!!!” The engineer screams as the sight of the Green Lantern came into view. He was floating there directly in front of the ship, his arms folded across his broad chest.

Ellison immediately activates the reverse thrusters, but it is too late as the ship barrels into the Green Lantern!

~

OK, that was a little more fun than it should’ve been. I used the ring to make myself intangible at the last second. As I passed through it, I grabbed the two space pirates, making them intangible as well. My protective aura wrapped around them both immediately. Lucky for me, sound doesn’t carry in the vacuum of space, since both of these frak-jobs are screaming like little girls at a Magno-ball tournament.

The strain on my shoulder isn’t that bad… I make it look worse just to make them nervous.

“You two do know that Piracy is against several Earthgov laws, not to mention interplanetary law. Let’s say we hand you two over to Earthgov…” I’m just trying to get a reaction out of them. I swear one of them wet themselves when I mentioned the ‘E’ word.

“No! Please, don’t! Take us to Braal… anywhere but Earth!”

“Alright… Since you asked nicely, I’ll hand you over to Galte-Re in your sector… He’ll take you back to Braal…” I stop in mid-sentence as they start acting wild, thrashing around. Strung out on Silver?

I separate them, placing them in energy bubbles. They’re not strung out… they’re convulsing. I check their vitals with my ring, but even before the results are up, they go limp. Dead. Blood pouring from every orifice.

“Ring. Explain.”

{Analyzing… both subjects were killed by microscopic nano-mytes.}

Hmm… Nano-Mytes. Never trust a Dominator.

I fly toward their ship to check their logs. I want names. I’d say faces too, but Dominators all look alike to me. There’s a quick flash of light and the ship is vaporized. No piece left is any bigger than a pebble. Same with the cargo carrier.

The cargo though… I fly over to the cargo containers that were tossed out. The Dominators blew the ship for a reason… there has to be more to it than Tropical fruit.

I dig through a few crates and find nothing but just that. Then I come across another. I open it. Weapons. Blasters. Yellow particle beam rifles & small hand blasters like the one that I was shot with. I feel a twinge in my shoulder. The ring started to heal me the second I was hit… but I’m going to be sore for a while.

Damn Disk-Heads are planning something…

~

Elia, Dominion home world.

The surface of the planet was devastated in the early 21st century by ‘Valor The Liberator’ when he rescued captive humans the Dominion experimented on. For nearly a thousand years the planet has been pelted by fragments of it’s moon, shattered during that attack. They were left to rot on their planet, their technology destroyed. It was left in a veritable stone age.

They fought back from near extinction and saved their race by re-conquering their own world. The time for expansion was drawing near again.

“Massterrr,” the lower caste dominator bowed before his regent.

“What iss it worrrmm?” he acknowledged without looking at the creature bowing at his feet.

“I… aahhh… rrregret that we’ve… aahh… lost a shipmmennnt of weaponnnss in Sssectorrr 2814.”

“Grrreenn Lannterrrnn?”

“Yesss Rrregennt.”

“Hhhmmm…” he grunts stepping over the lower caste to a computer console. He punches up a code bringing up pictures of the Green Lantern from sector 2814. The humanoid Green Lantern’s distinctive bald head and pointed ears set him apart from others.

The high caste Dominator looks at another, lower caste Dominator standing beside the computer console.

“Prrrogrress?” He demands with a growl.

“We have… aahh… deterrrmminned he isss basssed on Earrrth. Mmmetrrropolisss Rrregionnn. We have nnarrrowed his idennntity downnn to thrrree possssibilitiess,” Images of three beings appear on the screen next to the image of the Green Lantern. The images are taken from security ID’s issued by Earthgov. “Sssoulsssarrr Rrriderrrr, T’xplannn Th’innne… annnd… aaahhh… Vidarrr. All otherrr ssusspectsss, Rrregennt, have beennn… aahh… elimminnnated.” The lower caste Dominator says proudly.

“Excellennt worrrk. Elimmminnate themmm all.”

Written by: Scott Kruger
Cover by: Jim Dufresne & Scott Kruger
Edited by: Julie Kruger

Tales of the Green Lantern Corps – Vidar
Chapter 2: From Elia, With Love

OA, Center of the Universe, 2992

The Citadel of the Guardians of the Universe. It’s towering spires reach far up into the heavens beyond it’s atmosphere. Within it’s central dome, far below the highest spire, is the audience chamber of the Guardians of the Universe. Before the Guardians, stands Vidar, Green Lantern of Sector 2814.

“We appreciate the evidence you have brought to us, Green Lantern 2814, we will investigate it’s validity and proceed from there.” One of the nearly identical small, blue men says dismissively.

“Validity? But masters… the nature of this weapon alone could be devastating to the Corps. It’s apparent to me that the Dominators want us out of the picture to proceed with something.” Vidar replies, standing alone in the center of the chamber.

“’Something else else?’” a second Guardian speaks, “We have made our decision 2814, we will investigate these allegations and proceed if it is deemed appropriate. In the meantime, these weapons came from the planet you currently inhabit.”

“Locate the source of these weapons and bring them to justice,” a third Guardians speaks, as if on cue from the last. “You are dismissed.”

Vidar grudgingly left the audience chamber in a huff. The Guardians look at one another, all staring at Ganthet.

“Is there a reason why the Green Lantern’s of Sector 2814 are always so opinionated?” One says, to which Ganthet shakes his head.

~

Frakking Guardians…

I make my way from the main chamber to the turbo lifts ignoring the acknowledgements I get from my fellow Lantern’s. Well, I’m in a bad mood now… I can’t help it. I step into the lift and hit the ‘down’ arrow.

Of course the Dominion is up to something… they’re always up to something. It’s their nature. For Sprocks sake, they’re not called ‘Dominators’ because their passive.

But… I’ll go back to Earth. I haven’t seen Marissa or Rond in nearly two weeks. I’ve been so occupied with the Sector lately. Galte-Re always said it was unwise to have a family and be in the Corps. ‘you’re married to the Corps… you won’t have time for a wife and children’.

Frak that. The Corps is a job, not a life. I need my family… they’re the only things that keep me sane in this sprocked up galaxy.

Just thinking of Marissa & Rond lightens my mood. I’ll play good little soldier, but when the Dominators make their move, I’ll be first in line to say ‘see, I told you so’…

~

Earth, Metropolis Region, August 2992

Vidar stands in civilian clothes in the living quarters of his Metropolis apartment listening to his three year old son, Rond, play with his toys. Rond looks like his mother, dark hair, human ears… he just has his fathers blue-green eyes & fearlessness.

Shortly after he learned to walk, Rond found his way onto the balcony. He was attempting to catch a bird when he lost his grip and fell. Marissa just happened to see little Rond take a spill and screamed for Vidar, who immediately leapt off the balcony in pursuit. He zoomed past the falling boy, doubled back and caught him. Rond just laughed and pulled at his dads mask. They lived on the 150th floor.

Marissa put more security on that balcony than is used to keep the President of the United Planets safe. But that’s the way she is… a wonderful mother.

“Credit for your thoughts Vid” Marissa says with a smile, wrapping her arms around Vidar’s chest. She gently squeezes, he pats her hand in response.

“Ahh… the Guardians. They won’t listen to reason… The Dominion is up to something and they want to debate it instead of acting on it. You know, not all intergalactic incidents can resolve themselves diplomatically… sometimes, you need to jump in and cut off the serpents head before it can bite you.”

“And you want to be the sword they swing?” she says smiling at him.

“No, not necessarily!” Vidar turns to face her, “Elia isn’t even in my sector… The Guardians should send in the elite. Let them do it… it’s been so crazy in this sector lately I feel like I’ve been neglecting you & Rond.”

“Nonsense!” she scolds, smacking him gently in his sore shoulder. He winces slightly, “oops! Sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it… it’s almost healed up.”

“Vid… Rond and I know you are very important and have a job to do that calls you away sometimes. I know that there are other sectors out there that are so bad, they have two GL’s out there. We’re just lucky that you’re stationed here!”
She leans in and kisses him softly.

“eeewww… Gross!” Rond says interrupting the couple.

“Eeewww?” Vidar teases, “eeewww? Come ‘ere you! I’ll give you ‘eeewww’” Vidar releases Marisa and starts chasing Rond through their apartment.

“Vid! Don’t mess his clothes up! My mother is coming by to pick him up later today!” Marisa leans against the wall watching her husband and son at play happy to have their little family at home together again, at least for a little while.

~

The Durlan, in human guise watches the apartment of Vidar from a building across the street. It watches as the bald, pointed eared humanoid chases the smaller one with hair. It watches as the female begins to chase the other two around. It waits for any sign that his target is Green Lantern. The order was to eliminate the target either way, but the Durlan was smarter than that. Green Lantern rings protected the bearer automatically, then it would become the target.

It had assassinated many in it’s life, it had learned patience. It had perfected the craft. It would wait.

And it waited.

The small humanoid leaves with an older humanoid. The target embraces the female, then leaps out the window, he is gone in a green flash of light.

Target acquired.

~

Hawaii Province, later that night…

I walk in civilian clothes through the streets of old Honolulu. Tourists are on either side of an old street made of ‘asphalt’. Actual street cars are parked on both sides of the road, and horses pull carriages filled with newlyweds & families. Couple of people go by me like maniacs on two wheeled peddle bikes. The strangest sight I’ve ever seen. It’s like a scene straight outta one of them old 25th century holos. Hard to believe this is where some of the biggest battles in Earth’s history were fought.

During the last great war, before the unification and creation of Earthgov, the Hawaiian province was the final stand between the warring factions. The island paradise was nearly obliterated, in fact 3 of the islands were lost completely. In the century since unification, Earthgov spared no expense in rebuilding the island province. It has once again become a major tourist attraction for beings across the United Planets.

Now some Dominion scumbags are using it to traffic weapons.

I start at the shipping lanes. A place called Pearl Harbor. I watch as the cargo vessels launch from platforms set into the sea. Some lift off upward towards other systems, others stay low to the ground, flying East toward the North Am province, or West to one of the Eurasian provinces. But these aren’t the vessels I’m looking for, their much too large.

I wander from the larger platforms, to some of the smaller, privately owned platforms. I make sure my ring is hidden from site, but always there, ready for anything.

I start asking the locals questions about the Daxamite vessel and about the two Braalians that flew it. I show them holos of the pilots ID cards. I play the part of collector looking to collect on stolen goods to those that looked a little more reputable. And I play a smuggler looking to move weapons to those that look shady.

I will my ring to make a special note to those that are willing to ship my contraband. Have to visit them when my mission is over…

Otherwise, I ‘strike out’ as my wife would say. No one knows anything about the ship or Ellison and Ratchet (yeah, found out the engineer called himself Ratchet). I ‘rent’ something called a ‘motorcycle’ and make my way through the mountains toward the Northern shore. Frakking thing is noisy as Hell, smells too, but I like it. Yeah, I could fly there… But ‘when on Trom’, you know?

~

The doorbell rings in the apartment, waking Marisa out of a deep sleep. She pulls on her robe and slippers after turning on the light in the bedroom. She stretches & yawns as the doorbell rings again.

“Hang on a moment, I’m coming!” She shouts in response.

She walks quickly through the living area to the door of the apartment. The screen next to the door lights up with the image of an Interplanetary Express deliveryman.

“Yes?”

“Ma’am, I have a delivery for Marisa Vidar?”

“Alright, hang on.” She shuts the monitor down and unlocks the door.

The deliveryman stands there with a small package in his hand and a signature pad. He hands the package to Marisa who immediately looks at the card attached to it. She opens the card and it simply read:

From Elia, with Love!

~

I Frakking love this place. I’ve got to drag Marisa and Rond out here.

The only place I can think of that you can drive an hour and hit just about every climate. Granted, it’s all controlled, but still, you just don’t see this anywhere… Certainly not on Titan.

I find myself of the North shore. It’s even strangely more primitive. Huts made of bamboo. The ground still bares scars from past battles. There are even some structures from the old days that remain. I ask around, the area is designed to mimic Hawaiian culture through the centuries.

This isn’t the time or place for this though. The site seeing isn’t helping me with my main objective.

I find a slightly more industrialized area and hit pay dirt. Place called Turtle bay. Could have been a beautiful area once… now it’s littered with factories & cargo carriers. A few more stolen Daxamite freighters… some I don’t recognize. A freighter from Durla lifts off, heading for the upper atmosphere. Why they’d use a Durlan vessel, with racial tensions between the Earthgov & Durla, is beyond me.

Guards are everywhere, armed to the teeth, some of them even have those yellow particle cannons. This is definitely the place.

I quietly recharge my ring, foregoing the oath… it’s not necessary, just something to remind us of who we are and what we do.

Using my ring, I scan the uniform worn by a nearby guard. My ring duplicates it to the last seam. Even produces a replica of the blaster the guard carried. Mine won’t shoot yellow particle beams, but my green ones do just as much damage.

I prepare myself to walk right into this nest of pit vipers when I’m almost knocked over by this horrible feeling. I go down on my knees and try to regain my composure. I take a deep breath, gather my wits about me and start to stand when it hits me again.

Something else else’s wrong. Horribly wrong.

~

Marisa stands in her doorway, package and card in her hand. That name Elia sounds familiar to her, but she can’t quite place it.

“Elia?” she looked back at the deliveryman, he held a blaster in his hand. “No! wait!”

The deliveryman discharges the weapon. The beam tears burns through flesh and bone, disintegrating her heart upon impact. Marisa falls to the floor, dropping the package. The package opens and explodes, burning everything in the apartment instantly.

Doors in the hallway begin to open after the sound of the explosion. Neighbors rushing toward the sound of the explosion. The deliveryman’s body melts into the form of a common housefly and happily buzzes away.

Step one, complete. It waits again for its intended prey.

~

I know immediately that Marisa needs me.

I drop the disguise and take to the sky in my uniform. The frakkers below me start shooting at me, so I drop an emerald bomb on the facility. No time to sort through the mess. Frak the mission.

Marisa needs me.

I don’t even stick around to here the bomb go off. I fly as fast as the ring will let me fly without burning up the Earth’s atmosphere. In seconds I’m flying over the Western coast of North Am. Seconds later I’m gliding over Central City. Keystone. Star.

Come on Dammit. Faster!

Metropolis, at last.

I see smoke on the horizon. I get closer to my home and realize it’s coming from my building. Closer. My floor. Closer…

…no…

I burst through the window, the fire crews on the site duck for cover afraid that I’m here to finish whatever job was started.

Marisa.

“Where’s my wife???!!!” I scream at the fire chief, lifting him off the ground.

He just looks to his left, and that’s when I see her. Still. Burned. Her dark hair gone… her brown eyes, gone.

I drop the fire chief and stumble over to her.

“No…”

I hold her hand in mine. Her wedding band is fused to her body. That’s when I notice the hole in her chest.

“Green Lantern, Sir…?” the fire chief looks down on me. “We found this lying next to her.”

He hands me a small pink card with white writing on it.

“From Elia, with love!”

Written by: Scott Kruger
Cover by: Jim Dufresne & Scott Kruger
Edited by: Julie Kruger

Tales of the Green Lantern Corps – Vidar
Chapter 3: Rampage!

The one thing I loved more than anything else in the universe was gone. Yes, I have a son… but it was her. Marisa. I lived for her… Everything I am, I did for her… she made me want to be a better man. She was my inspiration. And now I sit here on the floor of my burned out apartment in downtown Metropolis, surrounded by neighbors & a fire crew, crying and holding onto her body for dear life.

“Sir?” the fire chief looks to me again.

My ring suddenly activates, throwing a protective aura around me. It doesn’t stop a searing, burning flame from penetrating my chest.

I gasp for breath and fall over on the body of my beloved. In a hail of yellow laser fire everyone in the apartment is dead… but again, me. The intended target, bastard can hit everyone but me.

Frakker would have had me too, if he realized my heart was not in the same spot as a humans. I play dead for him, because I’m sure he needs proof of my death to take back to his Dominion masters on Elia. He’ll probably go for the ring. They always do.

God, Marisa…

I lay there on her when I hear footsteps crunching on broken glass. I lay there still, willing my ring to slow down my heartbeat & breathing. If I look dead, I’ll have the Frakker.

He kicks me hard and I go flying off of her. I hit a wall and slump to the ground. He walks over to me and rolls me onto my back. He reaches for my ring.

“DIE YOU SONOVABITCH!” I scream at him firing a blast from my ring. But the beam passes right through him. His body wrapped around it. His left arm rears up and his hand melts away, changing into a solid weapon.

Durlan.

He hits me so hard I fly through a wall into a neighbors apartment.
I recover quick and surround him in a transparent green bubble. The only way I know of to contain a shape changer. I bite through the tears stinging my eyes and start shrinking the bubble. I want to crush the life from him.

Would have worked too, if I’d have disarmed him first.

He starts shooting at me with his rifle, the yellow beams shattering the bubble. I can’t contain him. I can’t survive against that weapon. Not in these cramped quarters.

I fly for the window as fast as I can muster.

Goodbye, Marisa.

I turn and fire another of my emerald bombs in my apartment. It detonates upon impact. Destroying not only my apartment, but the entire floor. The building begins to collapse in on itself. I start willing my ring to brace the building, when I see him. He flies from the smoldering wreckage with wings of his own.

I charge him, ramming him back into the building. We fly through wall upon wall. Debris & bodies flying and falling all around me. But all I think of is my wife. She was the kindest person I knew… she would never hurt anyone, and this…

“NNNYYYAAARRRHHH!!!” I scream with rage as I drive him through the bottom floor of the building into the permacrete street below.

~

The news casters swarm the like flies to the collapsing building. The collapse of the building halts on the 125th floor due to safety measures incorporated into its construction. It would have ceased immediately had the explosion the Green Lantern created been more subdued.

The two person news crew from the Daily Planet are the first on the scene.

“This is Laurel Kent reporting from the corner of 15ths St. and Shuster in downtown Metropolis, where Green Lantern is facing off against an unknown assailant!” The report hits the ground taking cover as an explosion takes out their vehicle.

“… Initial reports say…” she cowers behind a fragment of the fallen building, “The Green Lantern was responsible for the initial explosion… yes in fact, here we have footage from the 15th St. security cam.”

The footage from the earlier incident is displayed on Daily Planet P.a.d.d.'s across the world.

“As you see here, if we zoom in and replay the image you see the Green Lantern shooting what looks like a large explosive into the 150th floor of Levitz Tower. The explosion was so large it buckled the support columns on a number of floors. The coll…” Another explosion causes the reporter to wince. “The collapse was finally halted on the 125th floor. At this time of night, the number of people home asleep in their beds… the casualties will be staggering.”

“We focus in now as the battle continues. The unknown assailant appears to be altering form. It appears as though he is a Durlan.”

Laurel Kent and her assistant run out from behind the relatively safe cover of the debris, back out into the street behind a large transport vehicle.

“The Durlan is killing indiscriminately, and the Green Lantern isn’t using any caution at all in his own attacks! He seems Hell bent on stopping the Durlan at any cost. The Science Police have arrived, but can’t get close enough to the mayhem to stop it! What will the repercussions of his actions mean between the United Planets & the self-proclaimed Guardians of the Universe? Will this cause even more tension between Earthgov and…” another large explosion sends the reporter face first onto the debris littered street.

She picks herself off the ground, wiping blood from her lip. Her assistant, dead from shrapnel. The floating camera knocked to the ground, it’s repulsor engine crushed. She lifts the camera and speaks again to her captive audience.

“Will this cause more tension between Earthgov & Durla? Stay tuned for further developments as I bring them to you live in downtown Metropolis! This is Laurel Kent with the Daily Planet.”

~

I’m finally able to knock the damned things weapon free. It’s about then that I realize I’ve been shot so many times, my weapon and flesh look like they’ve been ripped to shreds. He hasn’t hit too many of my vital organs though I’m sure the only things keeping me alive right now are my ring and my will to smear his shapeless body across all of Metropolis.

He reaches for the blaster with a tentacle of some sort, which I neatly slice off with a very sharp green blade. It doesn’t even squeal when I do it… do these things feel anything?

I wrap him again in a air tight bubble and begin to constrict it.

I walk over to face it. Tears flow down my cheeks, I can’t cause it enough pain for what it did to her.

“Vidar… I have won.” It gurgles at me in a heavily accented Interlac.

“Frak you, I’m going to kill you.” I spit at it, staring into it’s tentacle ridden, eyeless face.

“It doesn’t matter… I may not have killed you like my masters requested, but look around you. I have destroyed you.” It makes a sound like laughter.

I look around me at my surroundings, the building. The street. The injured. The dead. Everyone staring at me, fearing for their lives. Science Police standing ready to take me down as soon as I let my guard down. I realize something at that very moment.

I don’t care.

I constrict the bubble and it changes shape attempting to survive whatever size I throw at it. Frak. I make it microscopic in size, and my ring still tells me it’s alive. The horrified masses watch in horror.

“WHAT THE FRAK ARE YOU STARING AT???” I shout, not helping my cause in the least.

Then I see him. Rond. He’s been there watching me all along. The fearless little boy cowers behind the leg of his grandmother. She stares at me with horror and revulsion in her eyes. They won’t understand.

I need to kill this thing.

I launch myself skyward and am instantly in space with my little captive still in tow. Without the restrictions of an atmosphere I pour all of my will power into my speed and within seconds we float before the Sun. I enlarge the bubble and watch as the creature increases his mass as well.

It is speaking to me, but I don’t allow the sound to leave his bubble. I just watch as I hurtle the bubble into the sun. The moment a yellow flare touches the bubble it evaporates, but the Durlans momentum stays true. I watch as he ignites and fades from sight. It’s then that I wish I could have heard him scream.

I look down at my hand, my pulse races again. It’s still not over. I’ve been clutching a small pink card in my hand.

From Elia, with Love!

~

The Citadel of the Guardians of the Universe, OA

Within the halls of the main audience chamber the Guardians watch as the pre-recorded assault on the Durlan in Metropolis unfolds. Vidar, bloodthirsty, unrelenting, uncaring, fearful. This is not the same Vidar they recruited over 10 years earlier.

This is also not the first time a Green Lantern has gone rogue and taken justice into their own hands. It probably will not be the last. To give beings that are, by nature, flawed, weapons like the rings of power guarantees that one will slip every now and again.

Something else else the President of the United Planets and the Prime Minister of Earthgov are more than happy to point out.

{“In light of the events that took place a little over an hour ago in Metropolis,” President Zandage began, “and considering the current state of affairs within the United Planets and on Earth, Prime Minister Marsda of Earthgov and I, have written it into law, that members of the Green Lantern Corps will stay out of the United Planets indefinitely.”}

“If I may, President Zandage, it would be very unwise to prohibit the Corps from…”

{“With all due respect, Guardian, this is not the first time one of your Corps has caused this type of destruction within the United Planets”} Prime Minister Marsda added, {“in fact, this is not the first time this has happened on Earth itself… Need I remind you of…”}

“No, you need not.” Ganthet rose from the overhead platform, lowering himself to the floor, face to face with the President & Prime Minister. “We are more than aware of our failures.”

{“Indeed? Then are you aware of the current location of your Green Lantern?”} the President asked mockingly.

“We are, and are dispatching agents to apprehend him.” Ganthet assured.

{“Excellent, we want him extradited to the custody of Earthgov upon apprehension, then your agents are to leave the United Planets… permanently.”} The President orders.

{“Failure to do so, would be considered an illegal action against the United Planets. And we have just… obtained… new technology that could make life very difficult for your agents.”} The Prime Minister of Earthgov adds with more that a little malice in his voice.

The transmission ends.
“I fear that 2814 was correct in his accusations.” Ganthet says sadly to his brothers.

“This is not the first time we have failed to listen to the concerns of our Corpsmen. And it’s not the first time such action lead to disaster.” Another Guardian adds.

“Perhaps we have become too old & complacent.” Ganthet says turning to leave the Citadel. He reaches the doorway and turns to his befuddled brothers. “It is apparent that someone wants us to stay out of the United Planets. Most likely the Dominion. The question remains… why? Perhaps… it would be, best, if we allow 2814 to continue?”

The Guardians fall silent staring at one another communicating telepathically. They nod and turn back to Ganthet, though he heard all that had been said.

“His ring has less than 3 hours left to its charge. We recall his battery. When his power is drained he will not be able to recharge it.”

“He will most likely perish. A worse fate would certainly meet him in the hands of Earthgov.”

Ganthet considers the words carefully, staring at the floor. The center of the room, the Green lantern symbol. He closes his eyes remembering back to a simpler time… he opens them again and with a heavy heart, addresses the gathering.

“Brothers… I feel we have become ineffective and I have grown weary. I resign myself of this council effective, immediately.” Ganthet steps from the council chambers, leaving his remaining brothers speechless for the first time in over a thousand years.

~

Somehow they knew I was coming. The damned Disk-heads sent every ship in their defense fleet out against me. Lucky for me, not all are equipped with the yellow particle cannons. Those that do though, have made this interesting.

I tore through the outer defenses that surround the Dominion easily enough. But the better equipped defenses surround Elia completely. Every ship armed to the teeth specifically to stop me.

Under different circumstances, I’d be honored.

No matter what I try, I can’t get near the surface of that damned planet. They must have been burned before. So I decide to take out my aggressions on their border colonies.

I’m exhausted… I’ve lost a lot of blood. I’m missing a finger and I’ve lost an eye.

But I keep seeing her body, there on the floor of my apartment. Burned beyond recognition, a hole where her heart used to be. And I crave more death. I see the look in my sons eye… he’ll understand what I had to do one day.

I set down on the surface of a planet on the Dominion frontier. I look around me and see the bodies of dead Dominators & their slaves. I left no one on this little mud ball alive. I look at my hands… they’re covered in blood. Most of it is not my own.

My ring signals that I’ve been pursued. My ring also signifies that it is almost out of power. Unlimited power when charged, but unfortunately the charge only lasts 24 hours. I call out to my power battery… no response.

I try again, I throw all of my willpower to call it forward. Nothing.

“Frak.”

I’ve less than 5 minutes left in the charge. I quickly scan the ground around me as the ring tells me the Dominators have touched down. I gather as many weapons as I can find, shouldering the rifles. I ditch my uniform… I had pockets in my civvies. I load my pockets full of pistols and clips.

The atmosphere is breathable.

I may die here on this planet, but I’ll sure as Hell make sure I take as many of these Bastards with me as I can. I see a convoy of them over the horizon as my ring tells me I have less than a minute left.

I take aim and fire the most destructive blast of energy I can muster. It takes out about a hundred of them. Then the ring dies. It falls from my finger and hits the ground with a dull ‘clink’. I’m a dead man and I rush to face my fate with rage and longing in my heart.

I know it won’t bring her back… But it doesn’t matter, I lose myself in my rage, and I march forward, guns blazing.

~

The lone Guardian stands on the surface of the battle scarred planet. Vidar made his final stand here. His blood remains on the ring of power that lies at Ganthet’s feet. It has been weeks since Vidar’s rampage on Earth and in the Dominion, and his body was never recovered.

Ganthet feels responsible. He bends down to pick up the ring… He feels it’s weight in his hand.

This ring… handed down from Green Lantern to Green Lantern had been worn by some of the Corps greatest. And more than once, by it’s greatest failures. No… that wasn’t right. He had failed them. If only he had listened, he could have prevented tragedy.

He absorbs the ring into himself, bonding with it until the time is right, and another can be chosen to guard Sector 2814.

THE END?



Universo

Art by Jim Dufresne & Scott Kruger