//------------------------------// // Mechanical Care // Story: The Emerald Torch // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// "If this isn't the right planet, I'm to go insane." For the better part of two days the three Lanterns had been searching the planets near the derelict ship in hopes of finding what had happened to the hundred-plus crew, but they quickly discovered that John's prediction of the search being a quick one would prove incorrect. Rapidly, they had learned that one form of life or another could inhabit almost every planet in the sector, and with no way to know for sure which species the crew was, they had to check them all. "It's alright, Spike. We'll find them soon. Stay hopeful," Sweetie said in an attempt to comfort him. "Can't say I blame the kid for being so upset, this is really becoming a pain," John growled as he navigated the ship through the third planet's atmosphere that day. "We need to save the passengers or at least make sure that they're alright, but this is cutting into valuable time that we could be using to find the missing Lanterns. Argh, let's just hope that this one is the right one." "Hey John, we never really did talk about what was up with that Manhunter that...was filled with the power of rage," Spike reminded John once the flames stopped burning the front of the ship. John stared ahead through the viewscreen at the forested planet below, waiting for Spike to continue as Sweetie listened in as well. "I mean, from what I was told, only the Lantern that the ring chooses can use that ring's power, but we all felt the Red Lantern's energy coming from that Manhunter. How is that possible if the ring didn't choose the Manhunter?" "I honestly don't know, Spike. But whatever the reason is, it concerns me," John muttered while making no attempts to hide the worry in his voice. "Whoever is behind this has shown that not only can they rebuild the Manhunters and make them stronger, but also that they can infuse the power of the captured Lantern's energy into them. If we don't find who is doing this and soon, it's not hard to believe that they might make an entire army of Lantern-powered Manhunters." Spike and Sweetie shared concerned looks with each other at that revelation. "But...that shouldn't be possible, right? The Manhunters can't feel emotions, so how, even if they're infused with the energy, could they call upon hate or another emotion. Machines can't feel," Sweetie pointed out, but John shook his head. "Actually, the Manhunter's are perfectly capable of feeling. The Guardians just shut off that part of them so that they would not become corrupted by emotions. My guess is, whoever is behind this turned their ability to feel emotions back on so that they could perform their twisted plan," John argued before looking back at Sweetie with a look. "And it's not impossible for machines to develop emotions. I've known a few that have become more human that some humans I've fought. Alright, we're almost there." John piloted the ship down through the thick forest, dodging and weaving as best he could in between trees and rock faces as he searched for a safe place to land. A small clearing caught his eye and he brought the ship down there, doing a quick scan of the area with the ship's sensors just to be safe. "Yep, this is the planet," John said to the others when the readings came back. "The sensors are picking up faint traces of a Manhunter here as well as a Lantern's energy. So either this is one of those super Manhunters, or we have another Lantern here who's in danger. Let's go see which is right." "Oh thank Faust, we can finally get off this ship!" Spike proclaimed aloud as he raced down the ramp and off into the unknown planet, Sweetie and John following after him. "Ah, finally I can smell fresh air and not the inside of a ship!" Spike said with relief as he took in a number of deep breaths, Sweetie joining him while John started scanning the nearby area with his ring. "Alright you two, focus. My ring indicates that there are signs of life not too far from-" John flicked his head to the side just in time to dodge a laser shot, a shot which just barely grazed his cheek. A heartbeat later all three Lanterns had erected barriers around themselves while their eyes glared into the forest around them, searching for the attackers. "What do you think, John? Return fire?" Spike asked but John shook his head at the dragon before lowering his shield and holding both hands next to his head. "Whoever is out there, you can calm down. I am John Stewart, Green Lantern of Sector 2814. My allies and I are here because we are looking for the crew of a ship we found floating in space," John calmly called into the darkness of the forest. Spike prepared to blast anything that tried take a shot at John while his shield was down, but John remained firm and for a full minute nothing happened. Then, one by one, numerous beings all wearing the same uniform began to walk out of the forest, some holding lasers while others carried sticks and clubs, but upon seeing the Green Lanterns, any fear vanished from their faces and they rushed over to John. "Whoa, that's a lot of aliens," Spike muttered as the alien crew began to pour out from the woods, each of them about the same height as him and somewhat resembling crystals or gems. "Oh, thank the heavens! It's a Green Lantern. We thought that the pirates had managed to track us here!" one of the aliens exclaimed to John, who lowered his arms and nodded. "So you are all crew members of the ship that we found floating in a nearby area?" John asked, getting a numerous amount of nods from the beings. "Alright then, whoever is in charge around here, please come forward so I can speak with you." In response to his words, a strong rock being that was slightly taller than the rest stepped forward. "Captain Deruga at your service, Lantern," the captain saluted. "Captain, can you tell me what happened to your ship and how you ended up here?" John asked the captain while returning the salute, before he waved the rookies over to him. "There's not much to tell I'm afraid. We received a number of parts that we were supposed to transport to a distant moon colony where we had done business before, but about halfway to our destination we were attacked by pirates on what was supposedly a safe route. Seems that somebody didn't want us to get there," the captain said with a growl before regaining his composure and continuing. "Well, my crew fought the best they could, but we were no match for the pirates and they managed to capture the whole ship without much trouble. We surrendered, yet those who continued to resist were blasted out the air locks," Deruga said before removing his captain's hat in respect. "Well, after one of the unfortunate stones who tried to send out a distress call was thrown overboard, we were just beginning to wonder what was going to happen to the rest of us when...it showed up." "It?" John asked in confusion before the crew surrounding the Lanterns and their ship began to murmur. "Aye, it. A massive metal monster the likes of which I've never seen. I believe that it heard our distress call and came to our aid, because it carved a hole in the side of our ship to get inside and the moment it did so, it started to kill all of the pirates in its path," Captain Deruga said. "Never before had I seen so many pirate weapons prove so useless, but whatever that machine was, it killed all of them with little to no effort." "Well, after that we were grateful to have our lives, but there was too much damage to the ship to even get it moving a few sects, let alone get us back home. That's when the machine...signaled for us to get into the escape pods, which we did after some debate. It then hitched us all together and dragged the near hundred of us to this planet, where we've been for about a month now. That's our woeful tale, but at least we made it out alive." John turned around when the story finished and found that Sweetie and Spike both wore similar looks to the one he had. "Thank you for informing me of what happened," John professionally said before walking back to the ship, waving for Spike and Sweetie to join him. "So, I take it we're all agreed that this strange savior that the Captain spoke of has to be a Manhunter, right?" he whispered. "But if it is, why would it bother to save these aliens?" Spike asked with confusion. "Manhunters only kill things with emotions or kidnap Lanterns. They don't save lives or fight pirates!" 'Perhaps this Manhunter is different than the other ones, much like the Red Lantern one we battled days ago,' Spike's ring suggested. "I'm in agreement with the ring. We've seen a number of strange things that, according to John, the Manhunters never did before," Sweetie piped up. "Perhaps this one managed to grow a conscious, or the being that's making them is using this one for an experiment." "Well, if it is a Manhunter, then we need to go and destroy it immediately," John ordered and the other two nodded their heads in agreement. The three broke apart and walked back over to the group, who were looking at the Lanterns with hope. "I know that you have something you wish to ask us, Lantern, but my crew has missed home greatly and we were hoping that you would be able to get us there," the Captain said before John could speak. "Don't worry, I'll make a call to Oa and have them send a ship that will pick all of you up," John comforted, getting relieved sighs from the crew. "But first we'd like to meet with this machine that helped to rescue all of you. Is it still with you on this planet or-" "No, no, it is still here. Just up ahead at the waterfall," the captain said, pointing towards the distance where the group could see a large falls. "It prefers to be alone, but every time we've had trouble, be it with finding food or wildlife, it has always come back to help us." John nodded before he took to the skies, floating with Spike and Sweetie towards the base of the falls. Spike began to cycle through his favorite construct weaponry as he flew, but Sweetie placed a hand on his shoulder with hesitant eyes. "You don't want me to blast it the moment we see it?" Spike asked her with disbelief. "Don't you remember what these things have done to us every time we've fought?" "Yes, but those were regular Manhunters. This one...sounds different," Sweetie reminded him, yet Spike still gave her a skeptical gaze. "Please Spike, at least hold off destroying it until we know for certain that it's trying to destroy us. Please." Spike growled with frustration, but he retracted his weapons back into his ring and flew with his arms crossed. "We're here," John called out before flying down, landing on a small island in the pool of water that had been formed at the waterfall's base. His guard was immediately up the moment he saw the large purple and red machine sitting cross legged at the other end of the small island, but the machine's eyes remained blank even when he constructed a large rifle and aimed it at the Manhunter's head. "Never seen one sit so still for so long," John muttered a moment later when the Manhunter still hadn't moved, allowing the group to take it in a bit more. It was still sitting cross legged and with its right hand it was holding onto its laser staff, with the butt of the weapon planted in the ground, making the Manhunter look like it was meditating. John took a step towards the Manhunter and its eyes immediately came to life, but while Spike and Sweetie gasped in surprise at the color of its eyes, all they did for John was confirm his theory. But it wasn't until the Manhunter spoke that all doubt was cast aside. "Noc." "No way...that's the only word I've ever heard Owlicious say before," Spike muttered aloud, but his ring hand came up in a defensive way when the Manhunter turned its head to look at him. The Manhunter said nothing as it began to push itself up, but as it did so indigo energy began to course through its body, which allowed Spike and Sweetie to catch on. "It's an Indigo Manhunter," Sweetie thought aloud, and to her surprise the Manhunter nodded at her. "So I was right, and this Manhunter was like the Red one we fought!" "But I don't get it. The Red Manhunter still tried to kill us despite having a Lantern's power, but this one saved the crew and so far hasn't tried to take our heads off," Spike reminded the pair with his ring still pointed at the Manhunter. "Why?" "I know the answer to that kid. At least, I think so," John said as he turned back to the Manhunter, who had still yet to raise its weapon. "Indigo Lanterns are fueled by compassion. So my guess is, when whoever made the Manhunters infused this one with the Indigo Lantern's energy, this Manhunter learned what compassion was. That's why it saved that crew and fought off the pirates, because now it understands compassion." "Manhunter...no...compassion," the Manhunter replied, getting a confused look from both Sweetie and Spike. "Indigo...Manhunter." "Wait, did it just say it knows compassion or that it has no compassion?" Spike asked. "Maybe it can only speak using the "no man escapes the Manhunters" phrase and its emotion," Sweetie recommended, doing a little hoof pump when the Manhunter nodded again. "See? So while the word is 'no', it actually means 'know'. Ugh, that's confusing." "Confusing as it may be, we finally have a Manhunter that doesn't want to hurt us," John said with some relief before an idea came to him. "Wait a moment, you're the answer! You can tell us who is making the Manhunters and kidnapping Lanterns!" The Manhunter looked down at John and for a moment seemed...scared to answer him before it finally spoke. "No," it replied, confusing John for a moment before rage crossed his face. "What do you mean no?! There are Lanterns who have been kidnapped and possibly killed and every moment counts! If you really are a Manhunter infused with the power of compassion, then you have to help us! Please!" John pleaded with the Manhunter, who seemed torn between its emotion and its fear. "No...man...no...Manhunter...no...compassion," it eventually stammered out mechanically, getting confused looks from all the Lanterns. "Can you give me a name?" John asked the Manhunter, but once again it spoke the same words. "Okay, a description, location...anything?" "Man...Manhunter...end," the Manhunter replied. "Argh, this isn't getting us anywhere!" Spike growled with frustration. "Why don't we just take this guy back to Oa and see if the Lanterns there can learn anything from it? I mean, we can scan its brain or something right?" "I'm not taking a Manhunter back to Oa, no matter what kind it is," John declared without any room for debate, before a questioning look crossed his face and he turned back to the Manhunter. "But you're right about us being able to scan it. Ring, scan the Manhunter's memory banks and-" "End." John stopped talking when the Manhunter spoke and found that the Manhunter was looking straight up into the sky. John and the other Lanterns followed his gaze to see that he was looking up at a moon, but a moment later five Manhunters descended from the sky and landed on the top of the waterfall. Each Manhunter was menacing in its own right, but it was the yellow one in the center that drew all four sets of eyes. "Great, even more Manhunters!" Spike yelled as he and Sweetie went back-to-back, each creating separate constructs while preparing to fight. "You guys finally here for us?" "No...end...me...end," the Indigo Manhunter clarified. The moment it spoke those words, the Manhunters hurled themselves off the top of the cliff and straight for the Indigo Manhunter. "Sweetie, Spike! With me!" John yelled as he constructed a giant stop sign that he slammed into the Manhunters pushing them back for a moment. "I can't believe that I'm going to say this, but defend that Manhunter at all costs!"