The Emerald Torch

by Onomonopia

Piece of the Puzzle

The fear-infused Manhunter was the first to walk forward, making it the first Manhunter to get shot by a bolt from Spike's ring. But to both the shock and surprise of the numerous Lanterns, the yellow energy flowing through the Manhunter caused the green construct to fizzle out right before impact, leaving the Manhunter untouched.

"Finally. The last defective model," the Yellow Manhunter said as it advanced towards the Indigo Manhunter, who held his laser rod out to the side while showing no signs of resistance. "Tracking all of you down has been taxing, but it was fortunate for us that the Lanterns learned of your location or else we would not have found you."

The new Manhunter's ability to speak in coherent sentences immediately put all three Lanterns on guard even more than they were. 'If this Manhunter can speak like that, then it's clear that this is a far more advanced model,' John thought as he began to formulate a plan of attack. 'But then again, it also looks incredibly different as well...less like a Manhunter and more skeletal.'

"Defective model? So this was one of the earlier Manhunters that were created," Spike whispered to Sweetie Belle, who nodded slightly to show that she had heard. "We can't wait for them to make the first move. With our powers combined we should be able to-"

"Hold on, John's telling us to wait," Sweetie whispered back, slightly moving her head towards the senior Lantern who had made the words "wait" out of green energy.

"So, we were right in assuming that someone is infusing Mahunters with the power stolen from the Lanterns that have been kidnapped, haven't we?" John spat with disdain as he walked up towards the Yellow Manhunter, whose eyes tracked him and his every movement carefully. "But not all models followed orders, did they? Those who suddenly felt compassion--and I'm assuming love and will--didn't stick around did they? They realized their actions and tried to flee, leaving only fear, rage and greed I assume."

"And they all shared the same fate that awaits you: Deletion," the Yellow Manhunter said as it lifted its arm and fired a bolt of yellow energy right at John, but in a moment the Indigo Manhunter moved itself between the shot and John. The shot slammed into the Manhunter's back, staggering it for a moment before the Indigo Lantern turned around and fired an indigo bolt right into the face of the yellow hunter.

"Compassion...no...die..." the Indigo Manhunter declared before charging at the Yellow Manhunter. The two metal titans slammed into each other, metal frame straining against frame as they each tried to overpower the other. "Compassion...is...strong."

"But you are afraid, afraid of what the creator will do to you when he gets ahold of you," the Yellow Manhunter reminded the Indigo Manhunter, whose strength failed him for a moment. The Yellow Manhunter took that moment to drive the end of his laser rod into the indigo face of his foe and blast him back with a burst of yellow. "And that fear is completely valid."

"Well, how 'bout you tackle someone who has a history of overcoming fear?!" Spike bellowed as he crafted a mighty unicorn that tackled the Manhunter in the side, driving its green horn into the metal armor of the Manhunter. Yet, once again with a flash of yellow Spike's construct was shattered, getting a growl of frustration out of the dragon as the Manhunter turned to face him.

"If you believe that you have overcome fear, then you have not met true terror, such as him," the Manhunter said as it began to advance towards Spike, serrated blades of a sickly yellow constructing out of its hands. "And if you surrender to your deletion now, you will not have to face that fear."

"Really, you're best attempt to get me to surrender is to threaten me with your boss? Please, all you've done now is made me look forward to when I get to punch him in the face!" Spike roared as he crafted a massive suit of armor and charged at the Manhunter, who also charged at the dragon with golden blades shining. With one mighty swing the Manhunter cleaved the suit of armor in two with the fear-filled weapons, but the moment his armor failed Spike leapt through the helmet of the armor and pointed his ring right between its eyes.

"Your will cannot hurt me," the Manhunter reminded Spike while lifting its arms to grab him.

"Maybe not, but what if I really hope it can?" Spike asked with a sinister smile right as a blast of blue light connected with his back, supercharging his ring beyond the max. With a roar Spike fired a blast of blue and green from his ring that hurled the Manhunter across the sky and into the waterfall, where it was quickly dragged down beneath the falls. "See what happens when you stay hopeful?"

"If you're done trying to make jokes, there are still four other Manhunters!" John roared with rage as he fended off laser blasts from all four of the other Manhunters at once, practically consumed by the amount of lasers that were trying to kill him. Spike said a word that Sweetie had to hit him for saying, before they launched themselves up to assist John, the two of them merging their energies to create a cyan torpedo that blasted the Manhunters off of John. "Glad to see that the two of you remembered that I'm still here," John grunted in pain.

"Come on, John, it was only four of them. We've faced way worse before," Spike said with a smirk as he and the other two Lanterns turned to face the regrouping Manhunters. "Sweetie, if you can charge the both of us up at the same time, then we should be able to make quick work of these guys."

"Yeah, I think I...No, I know I can," Sweetie fiercely said as she channeled her power into both Spike and John, who felt their will increase beyond 100 percent. John and Spike combined their powers and constructed a massive cannon filled with their will, a cannon that they pointed right at the center of the four Manhunters.

"No man escapes the Manhunters," one of the Manhunters said as it took aim with its laser rod.

"Just shut up already," Spike snarled right before he and John fired the massive cannon into the center of the four Manhunters. The cannon unleashed a column of green energy that consumed the Manhunters on impact, causing them to fade away into nothingness within a matter of seconds. With their foes defeated, Spike and John willed the cannon out of existence before all three Lanterns turned to where the Indigo Manhunter was just getting back up. "So, what should we do about him?"

"I think that we can trust him. He did help us against the Manhunters," Sweetie reminded the pair as they floated down towards him. "Besides, if we can figure out how the indigo energy was transferred into him, perhaps we can figure out a way to cancel out other Manhunters with similar powers."

"I don't know. It's still a Manhunter and who knows if it's even free? Perhaps whoever rebuilt them is making it seem like it's nice just to lure us in?" Spike put forth, but Sweetie gave him a look in response.

"Spike, you have to stop thinking so badly of everypony. Besides, I know we can trust him. I feel it in my gut," Sweetie said with confidence as she floated down, leaving John to give Spike a look.

"She feels it in her gut? How is that grounds for being right?" John asked with a chuckle, but Spike sighed and shook his head.

"Wish I could laugh with you John, but the score is currently her gut ten and me one in terms of who's right. Come on, let's make sure this guy doesn't try anything." The two landed next to Sweetie Belle, who was trying to use her ring's healing power to repair the damage that had been done to the Manhunter's face plate. The blast it had taken had burned half the faceplate away, revealing its more skeletal-like skull beneath.

'I cannot heal non-organic damage little one, no matter how much you hope that I can,' the two Green Lanterns overheard Sweetie's ring say to her, getting a grunt out of the Blue Lantern. John patted her on the shoulder for trying before he walked forward and looked into the eyes of the kneeling Manhunter, who looked up at him with his damaged face.

"Need...me...?" the Manhunter asked.

"Yes. If we're to find this creator of yours and stop him from killing more Lanterns, then we're going to need to take you to a Lantern outpost," John said before looking back at Spike. "I'm still not risking bringing a Manhunter back to Oa, but there are a number of Lantern outposts across the cosmos that should be able to help us. We can try one of those and see what they come up with. That is, if our mechanical friend here is fine with it?"

"I...go..." the Manhunter quietly replied as it lowered its head, getting a nod from John.

"Sweet, we have a new friend! I'm Sweetie Belle, what's your name?" Sweetie asked as she hopped in front of the Manhunter, who looked down at her with no emotion.

"Manhunter." Sweetie rolled her eyes at the obvious answer.

"Okay, I know you're a Manhunter, but do you have a name? Something that distinguishes you from other Manhunters?" Sweetie asked again, getting her another blank look from the Manhunter.

"Manhunter."

"Give it up, Sweetie, all that Manhunters were programmed to do was uphold the law before they went crazy. The Guardians never bothered to give them names," John said as he used his ring to help the Manhunter to its feet.

"Aw, that's sad. We should give it a name!" Sweetie exclaimed happily, getting a groan from Spike.

"Sweetie, why do you name everything we come across?" Spike asked her, but she ignored him while beginning to ponder. "Ooo! How about Rex? It sounds cool and keeps some of that mechanical sound!"

"How about no?" Spike offered. Sweetie turned and stuck her tongue out at him before waiting for some kind of answer from the Manhunter, who was now looking towards the waterfall. "Look Sweetie, as nice as it is that you offered to name him, the priority right now is getting him on the ship and getting back to-"

Water sprayed forth from the waterfall as the Yellow Lantern burst from within, a long golden blade constructed in its hand as it lunged right for Spike. Spike slowly turned around to see the Manhunter lunging at him, too shocked by the sudden appearance of the machine to construct anything. Sweetie called out his name just as John raised his arm, but knew in his heart that he was too late to stop the Manhunter. The Yellow Manhunter was upon Spike in a moment and drove its golden blade at the heart of the dragon...only to watch as the yellow blade pierced through red and purple metal.

"Rex?" Spike asked in disbelief as he looked up into the shredded face of the Indigo Manhunter, who said nothing before his head turned around 180 degrees so that he could look at his yellow brethren.

"Your sacrifice will be in vain. None shall escape the creator," the Yellow Manhunter said as it lifted its other arm and pointed it at Spike. In a flash the Indigo Manhunter wrapped its arms backwards around the other Manhunter and pinned its arms to the sides, while its chest began to burn with an indigo light.

"No...Manhunter...escape..." the Indigo Manhunter stated before it looked at its shoulder and used lasers from its eyes to burn something into its shoulder armor. The light then began to pulse rapidly as John created a sphere around Spike and pulled him back, moments before both Manhunters exploded in a flash of light, forcing the Lanterns to combine their lights to protect themselves from the blast. When the effects of the explosion finished and the last pieces of debris rested on the ground, the Lanterns lowered their barriers to see that neither Manhunter had been left in one piece after the blast, and all the was left was bits and pieces of the machines scattered everywhere.

"He...died to protect us," Spike muttered weakly as he clenched his fists, looking down as Sweetie rested her head on his shoulder. John lowered his head for a moment in respect before he walked into the debris and started to shift through the parts and pieces, gaining him odd looks from the two rookies. "Geez John, not waiting a moment to start destroying what's left of them, huh?"

"You saw what Rex did right before he died, didn't you? He carved something into his shoulder," John reminded the two as he found a support column for the arm, but no armor attached to it. "Get over here and help, or are you going to make an old man do everything?"

Spike and Sweetie joined in on the search and after ten minutes of looking, they managed to piece together enough of the machine's remains to locate his shoulder, which after they fused it back together the three discovered had four numbers carved into the metal.

"1416? Sounds like a sector," Spike muttered before looking up at John, who had a serious frown upon his face. "John, do you know where that sector is?" John said nothing as he stood and gathered up all of the pieces of the Manhunters into a green sphere, before he blasted them all into ash. "John?"

"Come on, we need to tell the members of the crew that are stranded here what happened. Then we'll have to stay with them until the ship that will take them home arrives," John ordered without a moment's pause, barely giving Sweetie and Spike a moment to share a concerned glance before the two of them followed him back to where the crew was waiting.

"Looks like that gut feeling of yours was right again Sweetie," Spike begrudgingly admitted on the way back to the crew. "If it hadn't been for Rex I would probably be dead right now." Sweetie let out a small whimper before she pressed herself up against him.

"I just wish that Rex didn't have to die or you almost died was what it took to prove me right," she softly said with hints of worry in her voice. "I was so scared when I saw that Manhunter lunging at you, I thought...that you might die." Spike softly wrapped an arm around her and held her tight, the two taking comfort in each other before they looked ahead to see John looking back at them with a strange look.

"What's that look for?" Spike growled.

"You know how close you two are right now? Try to keep it that way," John muttered in a puzzling way, causing Spike and Sweetie to share a look before they reached the clearing.

When the crew reappeared from the trees, John quickly brought them up to speed on what happened and how the Indigo Manhunter had sacrificed himself for them. After informing the crew he returned to the ship and sent a call out to the Guardians, who informed him that they would have a ship capable of carrying the full crew there in a day. To pass the time the Captain of the downed ship told Spike and Sweetie adventures of his life sailing the stars, but every time either Sweetie or Spike tried to talk to John he seemed lost in his own thoughts, or as Sweetie later suggested, memories.

The ship arrived the next day as promised, a massive green and white cruiser class that John informed the kids was the pride of the Guardians and that Hal would be shot on sight if he got anywhere near it. With the crew safely tucked away within the ship and safely in the hands of other Lanterns, John and the other two Lanterns returned to their own ship, after John gave one of the other Green Lanterns his report of what he had discovered.

"Okay John, time to stop dodging us. What is sector 1416 and why do you grow distant just thinking about it?" Spike demanded once they were back on board, getting John to sigh as he sat down in his chair and spun around to face the two with a hard glare in his eyes.

"Sector 1416 is the home sector of the Star-Sapphires, the Lanterns that run off love," John informed the two with anger and pain in every word. "And one of those Star-Sapphires, one named Fatality, hates me with every fiber of her being and threated that if I was ever seen by a Star-Sapphire, that they would stop at nothing to kill me. So I suppose you can say that I'm not looking forward to going to their home world."

"M-maybe we don't need to go to their home planet!" Sweetie stammered out quickly as John turned around and started to enter coordinates into the ship's computer. "Maybe it's another planet in that sector."

"I'm not that lucky," John said with a bitter smirk as the ship began to take off. "You two go take a break, charge your rings and get some sleep. I'm going to try and figure out how we're going to find what Rex wanted us to find without having to fight an entire Lantern Corps."

Comments

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

Time to count up the typos.

"So, we were right in assuming that someone is infusing Mahunters with the power stolen from the Lanterns that have been kidnapped, haven't we?"

Manhunters.

"Really, you're best attempt to get me to surrender is to threaten me with your boss?

Should be your.

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

Poor Rex!

At least he gave them a clue about where to go next...but it would be a deathtrap for John to go there.

And that Yellow Lantern Manhunter is immune to willpower? I thought when Kyle restored the Central Power Battery, he made it possible for Green Lanterns to overcome that. Something strange is going on here...

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

Also:

"I just wish that Rex didn't have to die or you almost died was what it took to prove me right," she softly said with hints of worry in her voice. "I was so scared when I saw that Manhunter lunging at you, I thought...that you might die."

For Sweetie, a Blue Lantern, to be that scared...all I can say is, that's a bad sign right there!

[badninja]

Great so the villain is Darkside. So how will the entire Justice League not get involved now?

[keaton-furman-prower]

Alas, poor Rex. We knew him... sort of.

Also, methinks John's gonna run into Fatality sooner or later

[FleetlordAvatar]

I am really scratching my head about the Manhunters leader. Brainiac may still be the most liekly candidate.

[VunderGuy]

"John reminded the two as he found a support column for the arm..."

The fuck is a 'support column; for the arm? Do arms typically have little support columns? Do you mean the artificial musculature needed for the Manhunter to move and do things with that arm? A piston? An actuator? What?

[VunderGuy]

6285827

Why don't you make a Mask fic?

[DeltaXeno1138]

"You know how close you two are right now? Try to keep it that way," John muttered

I called it right from that.

Star Sapphires

[Awesometacular]

Poor Rex. Never thought I'd be sad to see a manhunter die.

[SpyderBookworm]

"1416? Sounds like a sector," Spike muttered before looking up at John, who had a serious frown upon his face. "John, do you know where that sector is?" John said nothing as he stood and gathered up all of the pieces of the Manhunters into a green sphere, before he blasted them all into ash. "John?"

If it is, it’s where Zamaron, the planet of the Star Sapphires is located. Does he want them to go there?

[SpyderBookworm]

8157748
Is that why Rex engraved “1416” on himself?