The Emerald Torch

by Onomonopia

Orders

John took a moment to mentally go over what he was going to tell the Guardians one last time, before he pressed down on a button within the Interceptor, a button that created holographic images of the Guardians in real time. They had been in the middle of a discussion, but their talk ceased immediately when they saw the image of Stewart.

"Ah, Lantern Stewart. We have been expecting you for a while now," Ali greeted him before reading the look on John's face. "It seems that you have something to report."

"Yeah, I've got something to report and you're not going to like it..." John sighed, "I found who caused the Lanterns to go missing. The Manhunters." The moment he spoke those words, the Guardians all turned towards each other and murmured for a moment, leaving John to await their response.

"This cannot be possible, Lantern Stewart," one of the other Guardians said to him. "Lanterns Jordan and Kilowog defeated the Manhunters and destroyed all of them over ten years ago. After that battle, we made sure that every last Manhunter was destroyed, personally. It is impossible that they have returned."

"Then I must have mistaken the giant red and purple robot that said, "no man escapes the Manhunters" for something else," John sarcastically replied before exhaling and regaining his professionalism. "That's what I thought at first too, but after Spike and I destroyed one of them we discovered that these aren't the Manhunters you built; these are new models."

His words once again sent the council into very quiet talks, which were eventually broken up when Ali silenced the others. "Are you saying, Lantern Stewart, that someone out there is rebuilding the Manhunters and are using them to either kill or capture Lanterns?"

"Not just rebuilding them. Whoever is doing this is upgrading them, making them far stronger than they were before," John clarified as he rubbed his shoulder, pain starting to flow through it at the memory of battling the Manhunters. "Normally, it takes three or more Manhunters, attacking at the same time, to be a threat to experienced Lanterns, but Spike and I struggled to take on one. They're definitely tougher and they've also been upgraded with a second laser rod. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of what they might have now."

"That...cannot be," Ali muttered.

"Yet, the Manhunters only killed beings with emotions; they never captured them and they never had any interest in the power rings. But if they are being upgraded and capturing rings, then the evidence that another is involved is too great to ignore," another Guardian pointed out before turning back to John. "Lantern Stewart, have you discovered where the Manhunters have taken the Lanterns that they have kidnapped?"

"Sadly, my investigations ended when I was forced to blow the head off the last functioning Manhunter on the planet we visited," John replied. "However, we know that a Lantern from each Corps has gone missing, except for one. I have a hunch that's where the Manhunters--and hopefully whoever is controlling them--will strike next, and we'll be able to stop both in a single strike.

"That sounds like a reasonable plan, Lantern Stewart, but it is unfortunate that I must say that your request for back up from your home world has been denied," Ali informed John, who cursed inwardly as he waited for the reason. "Strange things have been happening in sector 2814 and every Lantern that defends that sector is needed there."

"Hal, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" John muttered under his breath. "Guess that it's up to me and the newbie, huh? I don't know how I feel about this. This seems like far too dangerous a mission to leave to me and Spike. I don't feel like he's up for it."

"Lantern Spike helped to defeat the Black Lantern Corps when they tried to resurface, and managed to defeat a yellow, orange, red and black Lantern all by himself without any formal training," a Guardian spoke up in Spike's defense. "In the five years that he has been a Lantern, his accomplishments have matched or surpassed other Lanterns that have had their rings for decades."

"Yeah, Spike's an incredible Lantern with an unbreakable will, but power and will doesn't equal experience," John argued with some heat. "He's still young, still inexperienced in space missions, and to make matters worse he's a teenager. In that battle against the Manhunters, he ignored my orders and almost got himself killed in the process."

"You won that battle, did you not?"

"Yes, we got lucky. But that luck won't last forever and I don't want it to be in the middle of a battle when that happens," John growled, but from the looks on the council's faces, they were clearly thinking about other things.

"We will take what you said about Lantern Spike under consideration." John frowned, knowing that when the Guardians said they'd consider something, it just meant that they'd ignore it. "However, this development with the return of the Manhunters is serious. Continue to investigate the disappearances, Lantern Stewart, and report any findings that you discover back to us."

The council cut off after saying their piece, leaving John to stare at a blank screen while trying to think of what to do. "I really wish that they would take Spike off of this mission," he muttered to himself in the empty cockpit.

'Why is that? Lantern Spike has proven himself to be an exceptional Lantern, much like Hal Jordan did,' John's ring spoke up, its words getting John to sigh.

"He's an incredible Lantern. One of our best rookies. But this mission...It feels like a mission that only ends in death. It's not one a young Lantern with a bright future like himself should be on," John thought aloud. "For an old fart like me who's past his prime, my time will be here soon enough. I can take these kind of risks. But for him..."

John was cut off when he grunted in pain and clutched at his shoulder, grimacing as agony attacked his shoulder. "Damn, that Manhunter hit me harder than I thought. I'm really starting to think that I'm getting too old for this Lantern stuff. Maybe it's high time I retired."

'Lantern's cannot retire. The ring only chooses another when-'

"I know. There's only one way out of this business," John cut the ring off as he suppressed the pain, letting out a sigh before he walked out of the cockpit and headed for the living quarters. He had sent Spike there before talking to the Guardians, not wanting him to overhear what John had to say to them about the young Lantern. It was then he walked in on Spike, who had a green stethoscope around his ears with one end against the wall.

"And just what are you doing?" John asked with half a growl and half a chuckle as the dragon shot up into the air and whistled innocently. "There was no need to listen in on me, because I did plan on telling you what I told the Guardians."

"Oh cool! Did you tell them about how we defeated the Manhunters and saved the sharks of that world we were on?" Spike asked with enthusiasm, but he caught John's eyes and the joy turned to confusion. "What? That's how it happened." John sighed as he constructed a chair and sat down in it, pondering over how to tell the kid.

"Spike...I asked the Guardians to take you off this mission." Spike's face remained blank for a moment before he blinked twice and tilted it with confusion spreading like a fire.

"Why would you do that? You were the one who picked me to go with you in the first place?" Spike reminded John. "Besides, if the Manhunters are as dangerous as you make them out to be, then it's better that you have me on the team instead of going at it alone! I took on Black Lanterns, so Manhunters should be no-"

"Yes, you are a skilled Lantern who has much experience with other Lanterns. But that's not the point. You've spent your five years as a Lantern making your own decisions and dealing with threats on your world as you saw fit," John said, making sure that every word was deadly serious. "But you are no longer on your world. You are with me and I am your superior. Yet, when I gave you an order back when we fought the Manhunters, you disobeyed me."

"Because if we focused on fighting one Manhunter, then the other one might have killed more people!" Spike roared in his defense, but the rage died down when John gave him a look. "Sorry, dragon temperament's a pain at this age. But we beat both of them! We saved everybody!"

"And at the same time, you put every being on that planet's life at risk," John scolded. His words seemed to strike Spike, and the dragon looked physically taken aback. "The reason I wanted to tackle one Manhunter together was that these are not the same Manhunters that I knew. These ones are stronger. I knew that together we could take one, but if we had to fight one-on-one, there was a chance we might die."

"But we didn't! We beat them and-"

"What if we hadn't?" John cut Spike off, drawing out confusion once again as Spike tried to think of an answer to what John had said. "What if they had managed to kill you? Or kill me. then double team you and kill you as well. Who would have protected the planet? Who would alert the Lanterns to the fact that the Manhunters are back? Many more lives could have been lost because you disobeyed me."

Spike considered John's words for a moment, understanding what he was talking about. But then a new thought took hold and Spike turned to face John with determination. "I get what you're saying, but there were innocent people in danger and we were the only ones who could stop it. I know that I risked my life, but we are heroes! That's what we do! We risk our lives for others no matter the risk."

"God, you sound so much like Hal," John groaned as he placed a hand on his face, remembering why he never worked well with the Teen Titans or any other team that had teens on it. "What I'm saying, was that it was an unnecessary risk, one that we could have avoided. You remember how quickly we took down the first Manhunter? We could have gone with that plan again and then moved quickly onto the next one with minimal risk to both ourselves and the civilians. These new Manhunters are far too unknown to be taking risks like that."

Spike opened his mouth to retort, but then he caught the faint tone that underlined John's words and rethought his answer. "I'm sorry, okay? I should have listened to you and followed your orders. You've been at this longer than me. But I also know that I swore on this ring that I would never let any evil escape my sight and would never lose my will to fight in the face of fear again."

"Heh, it's so strange to see such a young Lantern totally fearless," John joked and Spike didn't bother to correct him on his statement.

'Attention all passengers, we are approaching the destination. Please make sure that you are properly seated before we begin atmospheric entry because things will get bumpy.'

"The Faust was that?" Spike asked as John stood up, motioning for the rookie to do the same.

"I turned the ships A.I. back on to assist us in tracking down potential locations where the Manhunters might strike," John explained as the two Lanterns sat down in the cockpit and prepared themselves for descent. "This is one of the planets where I guessed that the Manhunters might attack."

"Why this planet?"

"Because when the Guardians told me about the missing Lanterns, they told me that one of every Corps had been taken so far, all except for one," John began as fire began to burn across the front of the ship as the Interceptor Mark 12 tore through the atmosphere. "And that would be the Blue Lantern Corps, the only one that hasn't lost a member yet."

"Sweetie," Spike whispered in a barely audible tone before looking over at John with far more concern on his face than before. "But the Blue Lanterns are the strongest of the Corps. They shouldn't have any trouble dealing with the Manhunters, should they?"

"Third rule of being a hero, kid; things are never as simple as they should be," John said with a dark laugh that was more bitter than joyful. "The Manhunters run off a similar, if not the same, power source as our rings. And I don't need to tell you what happens when a Green Lantern gets near a Blue Lantern, do I?"

"So Blue Lanterns can power up Manhunters?" Spike asked with horror in his eyes as he gazed through the fire at the planet below.

"Not as much as Green Lanterns, but still a considerable amount. And this is the Blue Lantern home world, where the power core rests," John added grimly. "The Green Lanterns have worked with the Blue to teach them ways to fight off the Manhunters after the last time they met, but I still wouldn't like their chances if they did have to fight. If being able to power up their foes wasn't bad enough, the Blue Lanterns are notoriously a small Corps, by far the smallest of them all. I think, including Sweetie, they barely reach a dozen. And since I don't know how fast the Manhunters are being produced..."

"Let's get down there and make sure that they're all alright," Spike said with what almost sounded like desperation in his voice. John nodded and pushed the ship down through the clouds onto the planet below, allowing Spike to get his first view of the Blue Lantern home world.

Despite the worry and concern that had plagued Spike's heart moments ago, he felt a way of hope and peace overtake him as his eyes gazed out on the planet. Beautiful blue seas covered the majority of it, with green forests upon the land that shone with an even brighter vibrancy than the green in his ring. Hundreds of different kinds of birds flew through the air past their ship, while as they got closer to the ground Spike could see hundreds of gorgeous flowers and plant life that filled the planet.

"Yeah, I had the same look on my face the first time I saw the planet as well," John said with a smirk as he saw the slacked jaw look on Spike's face. "Not gonna lie, if I wasn't chosen to be a Green Lantern, being a Blue one wouldn't be that bad an alternative. Hold on, we're landing."

Spike's eyes went even wider as John lowered the ship down on a flat piece of land that was surrounded by a large waterfall, a waterfall which went three fourths of the way around the landing zone. Spike felt himself began to radiate with even greater power and he turned his gaze to see a large, blue battery resting on a small piece of land that jutted out of the center of the waterfall, its light causing the water to take on an even more vibrant blue.

"Come on kid, let's get out and see if any of the Blue Lanterns are around," John said as he placed a hand on Spike's shoulder, snapping the kid out of his thoughts. The two exited the ship to find that the air that greeted them was far more pure than on either of their own planets, making them feel invigorated almost immediately.

"Hello there, Lantern friends. Welcome to Elpis." Both Lanterns turned their heads to see a large Elephant-like creature in Blue Lantern robes descending down towards them, seemingly meditating at the same time as both of his eyes were closed. "I am Brother Warth. We have not had many Green Lanterns visit us in a long while, but you are all welcome here."

"Thanks, but we won't be here long," John said as he looked around with a frown. "I hate to be rude, but is Saint Walker here? I need to talk to him, urgently."

"He is with the other Lanterns, who are all meditating not too far from here," Brother Warth said as he turned, while still meditating, and flew towards the falls. "Come my friends, let me introduce you to our Corps."

Comments

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

Typo alert!

Or kill me. then double team you and kill you as well.

That period should be replaced with a comma.

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

Okay, so these new Manhunters are stronger than the originals.

And Spike needs to learn one important lesson: The value of teamwork.

[Darth Arcaneus]

Could you possibly include Guy Gardner into this fox plz? He's my favorite Green Lantern.

[Onomonopia]

6243068
Sorry, he not in this one. I don't know enough about him anyway.

[badninja]

Why do I feel that the Guardians are behind the resurgence of the Manhunters? They have a pretty poor track record on major decisions and if I remember the comics correctly only a small handful are ever smart enough to think things through. It will be interesting to see who the big villain will be!

[keaton-furman-prower]

6244209 Yeah, I'm willing to bet that the Guardians have something to do with it

[DarthRevan]

The Faust was that?
Nobody says God was that?
Now, The Fuck was that makes more sense but that sounds hilarious coming from Spike

[Autistic Retard]

I thought the Orange Lantern is the smallest corp considering only one can wield at a time or am I wrong?