//------------------------------// // Team Work // Story: The Emerald Torch // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// 'Scans of your arm show that your shoulder was dislocated during the fight with the Manhunter,' John's ring informed the Lantern, who sat up from his chair and rubbed that same shoulder with a frown. 'I hope that properly placing it did not cause you too much discomfort?' "I've had worse," John grunted while willing a brace around his right arm, sighing in relief when the pain subsided. "Any word from the Guardians or any trace of that "moon"?" John asked the ship's A.I. 'I am sorry, Lantern Stewart, but there are currently no messages from Oa nor are there any traces of the moon or the Manhunters,' the triangle hologram in the ships' controls said to John. The Lantern sighed in frustration as he stood up and left the room, trying to plan their next course of action. But to his surprise, when he walked into the living quarters he found Spike leaning against the wall with a grim expression on his face. "Is Sweetie alright?" John asked with concern, fearing the worst. "She's fine, just sleeping off the effects of our combination...it's all my fault," Spike bitterly growled as he clenched his fists, flames flickering in-between his gritted teeth as he seethed. "If I hadn't tackled the Manhunters head on and instead worked as a team, we wouldn't have lost the Blue Lantern. I should have followed your orders. I don't know if it means anything, but I'm sorry." "Hmm," John grunted before pressing a button on the wall and bringing up the table out of the floor, but instead of sitting down he pressed a few more buttons and activated a massive hologram of space. "Sit down Spike, I think it's about time I started to properly teach you what being a Lantern means." Spike sat without a word, but he couldn't keep his curiosity contained and his eyes darted between all the planets and stars. "This is an entire map of the three thousand and six hundred sectors," John began as he began to flick from sector to sector, showing Spike a number of bizarre and strange places. "And each sector is protected by a chosen bearer of the ring. A Green Lantern." "I know that," Spike reminded John, but a look from the senior Lantern silenced him. "But just because each Lantern has a sector to patrol does not mean that their duties are the exact same as other Lanterns," John continued and his words gained an eyebrow raise from Spike. "Some sectors have only one inhabited planet, which is the one that they are generally from and stay on in order to better protect it. However, other sectors may have as many as ten inhabited planets, each with their own laws and customs that the Lantern must know in order to best protect them. Do you get what I'm implying?" "Um...that the Lanterns with more planets have a much harder job than those with one?" Spike guessed with a smile, but the smile fell when John let out an exasperated sigh. "What I'm trying to say is, that each Lantern brings a different experience to the table and can handle a situation better than other Lanterns," John clarified as he brought up an image of a massive, monstrous beast with eight arms that was the size of a small moon. "For example, this was a criminal named Hute. He was a massive criminal that would eat entire countries to fuel his bloodlust. So let me ask, how would you deal with him?" "Uh...? Hit him in the eye?" Spike weakly answered, yet his answer only got him a stern look from John. "Okay, I don't know! How are you supposed to fight something that massive?! How would you do it?" "I have no idea. And that's because I wasn't the Lantern that had to figure out how to beat him when he first started to attack planets," John explained, turning back to the images and pretending not to hear Spike mutter under his breath about John's answer. "Hute was defeated by a Lantern named Mogo, who not only found a way to defeat him, but to imprison him. If I ever had to battle against Hute, which I hope I don't, I would make damn sure to ask Mogo on how to fight him first." "Okay, but what does that have to do with us?" Spike asked with confusion as John changed the images from the massive destroyer to a number of other Lanterns from different Corps. "I fought the Manhunters before, Spike, and alongside my Lantern brethren we managed to defeat them--what we hoped was once and for all," John muttered as he placed his hands on the table and looked at Spike with a hard glare. "You keep fighting the Manhunters your way, the way you think best, because that's what you're used to. You're used to being the Lantern who has to make the calls and figure out how to beat the villains and that's what you're trying to do now. What I'm trying to show you is that you don't have to. You have a Lantern with you who has fought and defeated these threats before and can tell you how to do it, if you would just listen to him." "And most importantly, what I'm trying to get through that scaled head of yours is that you're part of a team, a team that has each others' backs no matter what we fight against. If you fight a foe you can't beat, another Lantern will be there to turn the tide. If you don't know how to handle a situation, there is a Lantern who can show you the solution. That is what it means to be a part of the Green Lanterns," John said with fire burning in every word as he looked down at his ring with pride. "It means that no matter the threat, no matter the challenge, you are never alone. That there are thousands of other Lanterns that are there to support you, no matter what." Spike's mouth thinned as he looked down at his ring, John's words echoing across his mind. "You're right John, I was tackling the Manhunters thinking I was still in charge. I thought...that I was good enough to take them on, even though you knew more about them. I just wanted to show that I'm not the rookie that everyone says I am, but I guess all that did was show how green...heh...I really am. Man, you must be mad at me." "There's no shame in being a rookie, Spike. I was a rookie at one point and so was every other Lantern in the Corps," John reminded Spike while placing his left arm on the dragon's shoulder. "But every rookie has had a senior Lantern there to make sure that their rash decisions didn't get them killed. And that's why I'm here Spike, to keep you alive and show you how to become that Lantern you want to be. So while I might get mad and frustrated with you, I won't give up on you. Lanterns never give up on each other. It's our duty." As soon as John finished speaking, the ship beeped and gained the senior Lantern's attention. John rose and raced to the cockpit, leaving Spike alone for a moment as he went over what John had said to him. His ring began to burn with will and he let out a sigh as he turned to see the concerned eyes of his marefriend. "You alright?" Sweetie asked from behind Spike, who nodded slightly in response as he looked back at his ring. "John's right of course, but that doesn't make the words sting any less," Spike muttered before a dry smile crossed his face. "Heh, then again, I do have a really bad history of listening to my superiors, don't I? Twilight, Celestia, John; I can sometimes be a stubborn dragon, can't I?" "Sometimes?!" Sweetie laughed aloud as she sat next to him and put on her pondering face. "Let's see, there was the time you refused to guard the town hall because you were certain the changelings would come from the sky--and we saw how that ended. Then, there was that time you had no doubt that Celestia was an imposter and spent all day dogging her only to find out that it was one of the staff. Spike, you're beyond stubborn. You're so stubborn you fought against the armies of death alone and won." "Okay, okay...I get it," Spike sighed with a small smile. "Good thing you and the others were there to help me during those times or else I might not be here." "Like John said, we're a team. We help each other," Sweetie repeated right before the door opened and John walked back inside, the look on his face only meaning bad news. "And judging by that face, somepony out there needs our help." "We just received a distress call from a ship not too far from here. Seems that something went wrong with their ship and now they're stranded," John informed the two before nodding at Spike. "Time to get your training started, Spike. Follow my orders and listen to instructions. Got it?" "Sure, but why doesn't Sweetie get any training?" Spike asked. "Because it seems she already has a firm grasp of what it means to be a Blue Lantern, whereas you still have a ways to go before you're a true defender of the cosmos," John reminded him with a smile. "Now come on, it's time to do our jobs." |) O (| "Man, that must have been one heck of a party," Spike muttered with a smirk as he and the other two Lanterns gazed at the giant hole torn in the side of the even bigger ship, which had a large number of strange light-generating objects floating around it. The Lanterns had parked the ship and elected to get an up close look at the vessel, resulting in the three of them floating in space just next to the freighter. "And when the party couldn't be contained in the ship, they took it into space. That's my guess to what happened." "Try to think more positively. Perhaps it's nothing more than engine failure and their communications went out," Sweetie suggested. "Don't bet on it, Sweetie, it's never just a busted transmission and offline engines," John muttered as he floated over to the large tear and began to scan it with his ring, frowning when the ring showed him the results. "Yup, those burns you see were caused by laser fire, and it was a laser that we've had the bad fortune to run into a number of times in the past couple of days." "Okay, why would Manhunters be attacking...cargo ships?" Sweetie muttered once his ring finished translating what was written on the side of the ship. "Last time I checked they either killed or captured Lanterns, not go after...strobe light tubes." "Hey, even giant killer robots need to party sometimes," Spike sarcastically remarked, but when John ignored him and Sweetie rolled her eyes he decided to give the joke a rest. "Come on, let's see if there were any survivors," John muttered, using the glow of his ring to illuminate the way as he and the others entered into the ship through the tear. The group floated through the eerily abandoned ship with rings at the ready, noticing strange electronics, multiple space suits, and every once in a while giant cages that were empty. None of them spoke until they came to a set of three hallways that split up in separate directions. "So...split up?" Sweetie suggested, but John shook his head and looked back at Spike with a smile. "Alright Spike, we're searching this ship for any signs of survivors, so in a situation like this, the best idea would be--as Sweetie suggested--to split up. However, we also have to assume that there are Manhunters here, and since we know that in a one-on-one fight we might die, we can't risk splitting up. So what should we do?" John asked the rookie Lantern, who rubbed his head in confusion as he looked between the three pathways. "Um...take them one at a time?" Spike muttered weakly. John motioned for him to continue explaining, which made Spike all the more nervous. "I mean, if it's too dangerous to split up, then we should stick together and search the ship one place at a time. It might take longer, but it keeps us all safe." "Not a bad suggestion, but somebody might be hurt and we could be on the clock. No, there's a much simpler solution," John said as he focused his will into his ring, willing a massive construct shaped like himself to appear. Sweetie and Spike gawked at the construct while both Johns smiled. "Not a bad trick, eh? These copies might not be able to create constructs of their own, but they can act as a second pair of eyes and ears. Take the left." The construct nodded before it flew down the left corridor and the others watched it go until its green glow vanished. "Alright Spike, now you try it," John instructed. "It takes a lot of will to make one of those and in the shape I'm in, I'm not going to risk another." Spike nodded before closing his eyes and concentrating, willing for the ring to create a duplicate of himself. Both John and Sweetie watched as the ring began to craft a construct before the both of them, but both had to stifle a laugh when the construct took form. Spike cracked his eyes open to find himself looking down at a little version of himself, just as he had looked five years ago. "Huh, I forgot just how tiny you used to be," John teased slightly. "Argh, whatever. Um...little me, go check down the right corridor," Spike ordered. The little him shook its head and crossed its arms before sitting down on the deck and refusing to move. John began to laugh at the scene before him as Spike tried in vain to get the little him to move, yet it refused every plea. "I was told that these constructs are like a replica of us, but I didn't know they could replicate a dragon's stubbornness as well as its form," John laughed while checking his ring, awaiting a response from his copy. "Seems that you made a perfect copy of your younger self, not just a construct. "Great, I won't even listen to myself," Spike snarled after the construct flipped him off, debating whether he should try again or just plain strangle his construct when Sweetie stepped in. "Here, let me try. Oh Spikey-Wikey," she sweetly said, gaining the construct's attention instantly as its eyes turned to hearts. "Would you please be a dear and go check the right corridor for us? I would really appreciate it." The construct saluted immediately and tore off down the right corridor, getting a giggle out of Sweetie when she saw the look on Spike's face. "What? It worked when my sister did it on you, so it was certain if I tried it. Come on, let's go down this one!" "Really tired of being the butt of everyone's jokes," Spike grumbled as he and Sweetie floated down the middle corridor, John following behind both of them after checking behind them. Their corridor led to a massive room that John assumed had once held a number of escape pods, due to both the writing and the fact that there was still a pod or two left, but what drew his attention was that out of over a hundred pods only two were left. "Maybe they abandoned ship whenever whatever it was happened to them?" Sweetie suggested as John scanned a computer terminal with his ring. "This ship belonged to a shipping company whose base of operation isn't too far from here," John informed the two as he repeated the information that the ring showed to him. "If we can't find anything here we should-" 'The Spike construct has discovered something. It has deconstructed, but I recommend that we head to its location immediately,' Spike's ring cut in and a moment later all three Lanterns were flying through the abandoned ship to where Spike's construct had gone, but when they reached the location at the end of the corridor, they were all struck dumb by what they saw. Hundreds of bodies lay all around a large room that looked to be where the crew relaxed and unwound, covering the floor, walls and table all around the room. Sweetie gasped in horror while Spike clenched his fists in rage, but with a professional calm John floated forward and scanned the body closest to him. A frown crossed his face and he began to scan the rest of the bodies, while the other two Lanterns floated behind him. "Well, found the source of the distress call," John muttered as he picked up a blinking cube off the deck. "Is this...the crew?" Sweetie whispered through her horror before she clutched at her heart and staggered back slightly. "Ever since she became a Black Lantern, she feels cold in the presence death," Spike explained to the confused John while helping to keep the Blue Lantern standing. "We've worked on it, but there's not much I can do." "S-so, is it?" Sweetie asked again. "No. These are space pirates and a notoriously bad group at that," John corrected with just as much confusion in his voice as was on Spike and Sweetie's faces. "Lanterns have run into these guys before, and while we've made some progress against them, I've never seen so many of them before..." "What happened? Do you think the crew did this before bailing?" Spike asked, but John shook his head as he turned one of the corpses over to reveal a large burn wound. "No Spike, once again we know all too well who the perpetrator of this act was. These are the same laser markings we found on the front of the ship," John told the pair before frowning again. 'But there was a crew here, that much is certain. So why don't I see any of their bodies? There was no way a shipping crew could hold off such vicious pirates and a Manhunter...and then there's this energy...' John stood up and turned towards the exit, waving for the two Lanterns to follow him as he did so. "Where we going?" Spike asked. "There's only so many planets in this solar system that those escape pods could have made it to, and even fewer that would support a diverse amount of life. I aim to find that planet where the crew fled to," John told the two before stopping and looking back at them with a serious stare. "But when we find them, we might also find the Manhunter that did this."