//------------------------------// // Dawn of the Final Day // Story: The Emerald Torch // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// John wasn't at all surprised to see that the Guardians were waiting for him in the hangar as the Interceptor touched down on Oa once again, bringing its journey full circle. The five Lanterns floated out, once the ramp had lowered, and John was surprised to find that the Guardians seemed generally pleased that Spike and Sweetie were back, although they gave the Yellow Lantern a cold glare. "And despite a few scratches, you have brought our ship back to us in one piece," Ali said with a small smile as he gazed up at the Interceptor, before turning his focus to the Lanterns before him. "You have shown us that you were a far better pick for this mission than Jordan was." "Thanks," John said with a smirk before Ali turned to Spike. "And Lantern Spike...while I am glad to see that you are on our side once again, I can see that the experience has not left you without its scars," Ali muttered emotionlessly while he looked up and down at the mechanical dragon, who glared in return as Ali nodded over at another Guardian. "What do you think?" "Yes...the technology is very advanced, but I believe within a few days we would be able to return him to normal," she said after looking Spike over for a few moments with a nod, gaining two shocked gasps from Sweetie and Spike. "You...you can make me a dragon again?" Spike asked with disbelief before getting tackled in the side by Sweetie, who smiled up at him as she hugged him. "Isn't this great, Spike?! Maybe they can find your ring or give you another one," Sweetie said as she glanced at the Guardians, but Ali shook his head as he floated forward. "No. Brainiac is hardly a day out and he is our biggest concern," Ali interjected, getting a nasty scowl from Sweetie when he motioned for the five Lanterns to follow him. As the group left the hangar, all eyes gazed at the skies where thousands of Lanterns of Green, Blue and Yellow were flying around, setting up defenses and weapons--or picking fights with each other in some cases. "The Blue Lanterns have been well behaved here, Lantern Stewart, but if it were not for the looming threat I would have your ring for bringing Sinestro's lackeys here," Ali said with some annoyance. "They have been quite a handful." "Well, I'll think about your feelings the next time a threat like Brainiac shows up to destroy our home," John sniped. "Besides, I thought that Sinestro would keep them in line?" "Sinestro has not been here for quite a while," Ali informed the group when they reached the massive structure that John recognized as the command center. "News came to us that Brainiac unleashed a force upon Koruga, and naturally Sinestro took the bait. He informed us that he was able to defend his world, but he will not make it back in time to aid us in our fight." The massive emerald doors slid open as Ali and the five Lanterns floated inside, all eyes drawn to the massive emerald sphere that represented Oa in the center of the room filled to the brim with Lanterns. Ali floated to a seat marked specifically for him as every Lantern saluted him. He held up a hand to silence all the chatter and turned every eye towards him. "Lanterns of Oa! As many of you know, a threat the likes of which we rarely see is coming to threaten Oa. His name his Brainiac and he comes for our planet," Ali began in a serious voice, yet his eyes made it clear that no one was to speak. "Normally, the Guardians tried to deal with Brainiac in the past by sending our strongest Lanterns to handle him, but it seems that this time he has an ace to defeat us." "According to what Lantern Stewart discovered during his mission in space, Brainiac has captured a Lantern from every Corps and is using their power to fuel an army of Manhunters...in his station that is the size of a small moon, with plenty of firepower to spare." The Lanterns in the room all began to murmur to one another at this information, but another look from Ali silenced them. "That is not all. By combining the seven Lanterns lights and adding their powers to his own technology, he has...found a way to shrink Oa, and he aims to add it to his twisted collection of cities and planets that he has gathered." All of the Lanterns began to talk aloud with concern and worry, some of them even asking Ali if they had a counter measure or plan in light of this information. "Aside from strengthening our defenses and aiding with the Sinestro Corps, we do not currently have a plan," Ali said sternly so that there wouldn't be another outbreak, before his glance turned to John. "That is why I have brought Lantern Stewart here, because he has encountered and fought with Brainiac more times than any Lantern present." John felt all eyes in the large room turn to him, all of them waiting for an answer on how to stop the threat. "Well, Lantern Stewart? Do you have a plan?" "The Lanterns that are trapped." To the surprise of everyone in the room, the suggestion came not from John, but from Spike, whose idea turned the eyes away from John and to the mechanical dragon. "That's how he's managing to bypass the planet's natural defenses, right? If we manage to free the Lanterns that he has trapped, then we should be able to shut off his shrink ray in the process. That would also prevent his Manhunters from accessing the power of the Corps." The Lantern's in the room began to nod in agreement, and upon seeing their reactions, Ali nodded slightly as well. "An interesting plan, Lantern Spike. But according to what John has reported to us, along with past information on the Earthlings' battles with the machine, it seems that it is very hard to penetrate his fortress," Ali pointed out, turning the talk of hope into murmurs of worry. "Do you have a plan to get inside?" "Actually, yes. I'm that plan," Spike said as he lifted his arms and started to move his mechanical limbs. "I'm made of the very same material that shields and powers his ship. So, I will be able to breach it. Then, along with a small team of Lanterns, we can infiltrate Brainiac's fortress while his main forces are focused on the battle on Oa, where Nattily, Se'rokal and others will help lead the defense against the Manhunters." "John, Sweetie and I are also the only Lanterns who know the base on the inside as well as the outside, so I'll be able to lead my group to where he's keeping the Lanterns," Spike further clarified, changing the mood in the room from worried to determined once again. Ali looked around at the Lanterns agreeing with Spike, before lowering his head in thought for a moment, and raising it once again with agreement on his features. "Very well, Lantern Spike, we shall go with your plan," Ali agreed, getting a smile out of Spike as Sweetie beamed up at him with pride. Ali started to determine which Lanterns would be a part of the ground forces and which would go with Spike, but at that moment all John could do was smile at the dragon with a nod of approval. 'Look at you kid, barking orders and coming up with plans--just like an actual Lantern. Seems you won't need me too much longer at this rate,' John thought to himself with a smirk, a smirk that caught Spike's attention and he floated over to the senior Lantern. John spoke, "Not a bad idea there, kid. We'll make a Lantern out of you yet." "Hey John...will you join me on this mission?" Spike asked hesitantly. John gave him a look of slight confusion that caused Spike to look around nervously. "What's the matter, kid? The plan sounded great to me," John said, but Spike shook his head slightly. "I know I made it sound like I knew what I was doing, but I still think this plan might be too much for me," Spike admitted with a sigh that caused John's face to fall. "I don't have my ring, and my body has been modified to the point that I'm still figuring out how I work. I'm still a rookie after all, and since I don't want Sweetie going on this mission with me-" "Hell yes, I'm going with you!" "... and with Sweetie coming with me, I'd really appreciate having you there in case things went wrong," Spike admitted. John thought about what Spike was asking for a moment, before letting out a small chuckle and placing a hand on the dragon's shoulder. "Spike...you're right about a few things. You're body is different now, you don't have your ring, and you are definitely still a rookie," John informed Spike with a small smile before placing his other hand on his shoulder. "But there are two things you're wrong about. The first is, this mission might be too much for you. It isn't. You can do this. If any Lantern has the will to free the Lanterns and stand against Brainiac, it's you. You've proven yourself time and time again that you're a Lantern that only comes around once in a while." "Thanks John...but what's the other thing I'm wrong about?" Spike asked as John's face fell slightly. "It's...you don't need me with you. Hell, I haven't been a really good teacher," John admitted with a smirk, and he held up a hand when Spike tried to argue before letting go of the dragon. "I've barely taught you anything, you've saved me more often than I saved you, and I even left you to die. And you learn quickly. Look at the way you thought up a way to stop Brainiac when everyone was looking to me. It's clear that you are ready to be a full-fledged Lantern. So consider this mission...my final test. If you can do this, then I'll make you a Lantern." Spike's eyes went wide as John said this, before John patted the dragon on the shoulder and walked by him, lost in his own thoughts while he headed out of the room. "Rest up and enjoy the last bit of free time you got, Spike, because tomorrow we're going to war." |)O(| The door to his room aboard the Interceptor silently shut behind him as John sat down on his bed, gritting his teeth in pain while he held a hand to his chest. He breathed in heavily a few times before sighing out the pain, regaining his stone exterior as he scanned his body with his ring. "How am I holding up?" he asked his ring when it was done scanning him. 'You have multiple fractures along your ribs and shoulder, as well as plenty of internal damage from the battle with the mechanical Lanterns,' the ring informed him, telling John what he had already assumed. 'Why do you ask me instead of getting medical attention. In the shape you are in, you will not be much help during tomorrow's battle.' "Don't worry, I plan to get this old man all patched up before the battle tomorrow, but...I just needed a moment alone," John said to his ring before grunting in pain while he leaned back against the bulkhead, lost in thought about the imminent battle. 'I know we can win, but I don't know what the casualties will be, and who of my friends we might never see again.' John looked down as he said this and constructed an image of his Justice Leaguers, wishing that he could call them for help. But he knew that they were protecting the Earth. This battle...he would have to fight. Then, the construct changed from that of the League to the small, three person team with whom he had been traveling around space the last month. A smile cracked across his face as he remembered all the fun he had with them, before the smile fell when he remembered the pain and agony Sweetie had gone through at losing Spike; how Spike had sacrificed himself to slow down Brainiac only to become one of his soldiers; how much the two had suffered because John had been too weak. 'Not this time. Those two have already gone through so much despite being such young Lanterns,' John thought to himself as he felt his determination wipe away his pain, he eyes glowing green with power while his ring lit up as well. 'Consumed by Greed, getting beaten by Sombra, having him turn Sweetie's sister against her, and the Black Lanterns...and that was all in their first year of being recruited. Now they're having to deal with the potential destruction of the Lanterns and the end of the cosmos...well, not on my watch. As long I as still stand I will not let anything else happen to the both of them, even if that means having to defeat Brainiac on my own.' John then left his room and floated out of the Interceptor, standing under the open hangar which allowed him to gaze up at the stars, the stars that he had spent a lifetime helping to protect. His right hand tightened around his ring as he thought about what tomorrow would bring, before another thought crossed his mind, one that needed to be addressed. "Ring?" John asked, waiting until the ring glowed again before answering. "I need you to take a message." |)O(| The green homeworld of the Corps that had bothered him for so long finally came into his sensors' range, but for some reason Brainiac felt a slight twinge in the back of his mind. Almost like...he was happy that he was finally there. And that thought drove the machine to the closest he could get to anger. He was Brainiac. He was the ultimate being of knowledge and power in the cosmos, the collector of knowledge. He should not be...feeling. 'And yet, I am. That much is certain,' he thought to himself as he glanced down at his hand, feeling the slightest hints of anger coursing through his mind. 'Somehow...in a way that I had not predicted, the power of those infernal Lanterns has somehow managed to...corrupt my systems, allowing me to feel the same weakness that they feel. They have infected my systems with their weakness.' Brainiac gazed out of one of his screens at the emerald planet that floated below him, knowing that they were all waiting for him--that this battle would be one of the more difficult ones that he had, even though there was no kryptonian to frustrate him. But they would fall, that was inevitable. Yet, the question on Brainiac's mind wasn't if they would fall, it was if he should just capture the planet and the ring users. 'This is where it all started. This is the planet that created the Green Lanterns, the defenders of the cosmos...the center of the emotions that have started to corrupt me. This is the source,' Brainiac pondered as his gaze slightly turned to the side to see the captured Violet and Red homeworlds sitting beside him. He grabbed hold of the Red one and lifted it up, for a brief moment considering if he should destroy it so that the rage within him would be destroyed as well. 'No. It holds within unbelievable knowledge. It must survive,' he thought as he put it back down before gazing at the green planet with narrowed eyes. "Attack." The one command echoed across the ship as hundreds of doors and platforms activated, allowing thousands of different colored Manhunters to descend to the planet below. Explosions of emerald lit up the atmosphere as the machines descended, but Brainiac had already calculated that, while their artillery would take out some of his forces, the surviving number would be more than sufficient to subdue the Lanterns. The Lanterns that were placed up in space began to engage the Manhunters that made it through the artillery strike, lighting up the sky with greens, reds and a plethora of other colors. Yet, despite the initial strike breaking through the aerial Lanterns' defenses and gaining his forces access to the planet below, a frown still covered Brainiac's face. His problems, his corruption, would not end with the capture of the Green Lanterns homeworld. The captured Red Lantern world told him that much. And according to his calculations, there was only one way that might guarantee his release from the emotions for good. 'When the Lanterns fall, I shall capture the planet the same way I have done for the other two,' Brainiac thought before another possibility flashed across his mind. 'But if, by some improbable miracle, the Lanterns manage to defeat my forces and corrupt me even further...then I shall destroy will. Once and for all.'