Sombra found sanctuary in an underground cave. While he stood inside, he found it quite convenient that there were so many places to hide. Sombra headed deeper into the cave, passing the remaining zombies which hadn't been destroyed. He used his magic and created a chair for him to sit on and took a seat. He looked to his ring and noticed that it had been awfully quiet. Ever since Sombra had commanded that it shut up, Black Hand was as quiet as a mouse.
The thought of allowing Black Hand to remain silent crossed his mind, multiple times in fact, but Sombra couldn't deny Black Hand his voice. He owed him that much, he did bring him back from the dead after all. Sombra wondered how he would bring Black Hand back, was there a phrase, or code he was supposed to say?
"Why didn't this thing come with an instruction guide?" Sombra mentally growled.
Sombra, slightly, regretted silencing Black Hand, due to the fact that he was his only way of understanding the ring. Without him he wouldn't be able to do anything really, there was still so much to learn, so much that was unknown. Sombra needed his thirst quenched, now!
Sombra thought back to the Green Lantern and how it spoke to his ring. Maybe Sombra's worked the same, in some manner. It wouldn't hurt to give it a shot, right?
Sombra looked at his ring and asked, "Um...ring?" He asked awkwardly.
'Yes, King Sombra?'
Sombra seemed taken aback, surprised that the ring had actually responded. After composing himself he continued, "can you return Black Hand?" He asked, unsure how to explain what he needed.
'Are you asking me to return communication to William Hand?'
"Um...yes?" Sombra said unsure.
'As you wish. CONNECTION REESTABLISHED.'
There was a silence, minus the sound of occasional dripping water, that wrapped around the entire cave. Sombra waited for some, any, sign that Black Hand was back. Sombra licked his lips and braced himself as he spoke,
"Black-"
That was as far as Sombra got as he collapsed onto the floor, screaming. Unmeasurable pain shot through Sombra's entire body, it felt as though his body was being turned inside out, having oil poured over all his flesh, lighting that oil on fire, returning his body to normal, and his body melted as it burned from the inside out.
Oddly specific I know, but Black Hand had made it clear he was very pissed off with Sombra.
"I want one thing to be clear between you and I." Black Hand spoke, clearly angry. "I brought you back, I gave you that power, I chose you to fulfill our goal, and then you do this! Do you have any idea how stupid your decision was?!"
"I'm...sorry." Sombra managed to say through his pain.
"Sorry? Sorry?! News flash Sombra, sorry isn't gonna fix the shit storm you've just started. Thanks to you, my plan was almost completely destroyed. If you had been defeated everything I worked so hard for would be in ruins."
"But it wasn't." Sombra gritted through the pain. "In fact, I would think that what I did helped our goal."
"How did it help exactly?!" Black Hand demanded.
"Its true we suffered a loss when those Lantern's attacked. But because of my actions we escaped with a chunk of the zombies." Sombra said.
Black Hand paused, thinking about what Sombra had said before sighing and releasing Sombra from the pain. "Fine...I will admit we came out better than I thought. But you took a risk and that's something I hope you don't plan on doing occasionally. There's to much on the line to rely on luck alone."
"Fair enough," Sombra grunted as he rose, "I promise not to take anymore risks. There, happy?"
"I'll be happy the second I'm out of this prison." Black Hand stated. "Which will be happening soon I hope. Now then, you brought me back for a reason right? What is it?"
"I want to understand some things." Sombra answered. "For starters, why don't you explain those two Lanterns I had just fought."
"...Uuuugggghhhhhh." Black Hand let out a long, irritable, sigh. "Fine, to understand the Lanterns I'm gonna have to start at the beginning. The very beginning." Black Hand began to explain.
"Long, long, long, long...lets just say very long ago there was nothing, just a blank and empty void, and from that void came life, and from life came emotion. Life became adventurous and fearless, thus the emotion of Willpower was born. Life became fearful of others, scared and terrified, thus the emotion of Fear was born. Life became angry and furious with others, thus the emotion Rage was born. Life became hopeful and believed that all would be well, this the emotion Hope was born. Life took and hoarded things they needed to survive, thus the emotion of Avarice, or greed, was born. Life learned to reproduce and care for those it held dear, thus the emotion of Love was born. Life became caring and kind to others, thus the emotion of Compassion was born." Black Hand explained. "Over time, many creatures learned how to harness and wield these emotions in the form of weapons and tools, and while some use this power to protect others, like the Green Lantern's, there are those who use its power to harm and destroy others."
Black Hand paused before continuing. "This is the flaw of the Emotional Spectrum, so many unique emotions leads to diversity and separation. Life believed it could create something better than the darkness, but the Life has failed, and so it is our task to clean up the Life's mess and return to the way things were."
"I see..." Sombra paused to stroke his chin. "But if what you say is true, then all I have to do is sit back and let the other Lantern's tear themselves apart."
"As easy as it sounds, it's not. Despite how much each of the Corps hates each other so much, when we step onto the playing field they will do whatever it takes to take us off."
There was a saying that everyone was gonna have a "worst day in their entire life" moment. So somebody said that on the worst day of your life, you should look forward to tomorrow. Cause it automatically makes it better than yesterday. Cheesy I know, but all to embarrassingly true.
Del knew he was in for bumpy ride the moment the morning sun rose across the horizon. He could feel it in his bones. He remembered how he had to discretely enter his house, how he headed up to his room, collapsed onto his bed, and was out like a light in seconds.
Now Del was at the mercy of the new day as he awoke groggy and stiff. His body cracked softly and twitched as he stretched out his tired muscles. He looked to his hoof to see the green ring was still there, causing Del to sigh in disappointment that it wasn't all just a dream. No matter how he sliced it, the ring was apart of his life now and he was gonna have to get used to it. Del got up from his bed and walked downstairs, driven by the rumbling of his stomach.
He was so tired that Del had forgotten to eat dinner last night and was now suffering the cost of his action. As he walked downstairs his nose was tickled by the tantalizing sent of pancakes with a hint of chocolate. As he entered the lower floor he was graced with the sight of a stack of six pancakes with chocolate chips sprinkled on each cake sitting on a white plate with a fork and knife laid out. On the top of the cakes was a piece of sliced butter melting onto the top, drips of it being caught by the bottom cakes. From top to bottom the stack had been drizzled with maple syrup that glistened as it caught the sun's rays.
Del couldn't help himself from licking his lips at the sight. He wasted no time as he rushed to the table, pulled up a chair, grabbed the fork and knife, and dug into the cakes. Each bite was delicious and mouth watering, it tasted as good as it looked. Del finished the breakfast quickly, once he had finished he took his dishes, washed them off in the sink before setting them out to dry, and walked outside.
He took in a deep breath, with a fully stomach, and his body slightly healed, Del was ready to tackle the day. But his ring thought otherwise.
'Remove whatever plans you think you will have. We have a problem.'
Del should've know today wouldn't be great, he knew it was gonna be the exact opposite in fact. "What is it now?" Del sighed as he spoke directly at the ring.
'I'm detecting large amounts of Red energy approximately 12 miles away.'
Del raised an eyebrow. "Red energy?"
'Rage. It seems that the red ring has chosen its bearer.'
"And...that's bad, isn't it?" Del assumed.
'If your definition of bad includes a creature hellbent of destroying everything within a 30 mile radius, then yes, it's very bad.'
Del understood the urgency the ring was explaining and wasted no time in powering up. In a flash of green light, Del became adorned in a Green Lantern suit and mask. He braced himself before taking off into the air and flying towards the energy.
'Might I make a suggestion?'
"Nothin' holding you back, speak what's on your mind." Del answered.
'The red light of Rage is considered the most physically strongest among the Emotional Spectrum. It would be wise to not try and fight the Red Lantern, but rather to lead him to a Blood Lake as records show that once a Red Lantern is dipped in the lake their rage is majorly suppressed.'
"When you say Blood Lake you don't mean a literal 'lake of blood'. Do you?" Del asked, the idea of a lake completely filled with blood made him shutter.
'I'm afraid I do mean a literal lake of blood. I can only assume you don't have one.'
"Hey, its not like they sell them at the local supermarket you know!" Del yelled defensively.
'Then it seems we will have to resort to the current course of action and defeat the Red Lantern. I estimate your chances of success at 42%.'
"Anyone tell you you're the definition of doubt?" Del asked.
'You're the 5th.'
"That was rhetorical." Del grumbled before he came to a stop and stood (floated) in awe.
A large chunk of the orchard had been destroyed, broken trees, burnt grass, a large radius of destruction covered the area. Del's eyes went wide at the sight of the destruction caused, by what he assumed, to be the Red Lantern. Del landed in the middle of the area and began searching for the so called Red Lantern. He took a step and his hoof stepped in something red. He raised his hoof to eye level to see it was completely covered in a black red liquid. It was blood, most likely belonging to the Red Lantern, and there were puddles of it scattered all over the area. Del agreed that this Red Lantern, whomever he or she was, was in pain and needed help quickly.
"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Birds took flight as they scattered from nearest trees, the sound of animals running far from the roar could be heard as well as Del stood in shock once more. The roar didn't sound like it was in pain like Del had thought but it sounded...angry?
*THUMP*
The ground shook lightly as something big collided with it. Del braced himself as he knew that the Red Lantern was closing in.
*THUMP*
Once more the ground shook, no doubt by the Red Lantern. It was getting closer, Del could feel it.
*THUMP*
The ground shook harder, Del's body lightly shook from the grounds vibrations
*THUMP*
A silhouette appeared, its body shaped like a pony. It was a Pegasus, Del could see its flared wings, and it had a face similar to a Stallion's. Its mouth came unhinged as red mist fumed from the back of his throat and out his mouth. The Pegasus walked forward, allowing is figure to enter the light and become visible. Upon the sight of the Red Lantern's appearance Del became even more shocked and slightly confused.
"Prism?"
Indeed it was the hot headed Pegasus known as Prism Bolt, only now he wore a black suit with his chest, hooves, and flank red. On his chest was a symbol that looked a like an H except there was a hole in the middle of it. Prism's teeth were stained red, as well as his chin, eyes, and the blood drizzling down from them. Prism was breathing heavily, almost like he was constant pain.
'Subject related to bearer, estimated chance of success 36%.'
Del ignored his ring and took a step forward. "Prism, it's me Del." Del said, and then remembering that he was still wearing a mask removed it to show Prism he was telling the truth. "See, it's your good old buddy."
Prism looked up at Del, anyone could see that he wasn't thinking clearly. He looked at Del but in his current state his vision was blurry and unfocused and he couldn't make out Del's appearance. His eyes could barely see through the blood in them which gave everything a red hue, but when Prism looked at Del he didn't see Del. He saw a Pegasus Stallion with red fur, mane, and tail, blue eyes, the front of his mane had a cowlick, and he had a flame as his cutie mark.
The Pegasus was known as Hot Head, and whenever Prism saw him he was instantly filled with rage. Hot Head and Whirlwind were currently dating you see, and it made Prism all the more angrier every time he saw the two because it reminded him of his failure with Whirlwind. In fact, it made Prism want to bash Hot Head's skull in. What a coincidence he was standing right before Prism?
"RRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!" Prism roared as he tackled Del to the ground.
Del groaned in pain when Prism came in contact with his body, the pieces of his suit disintegrated upon Prism's touch while leaving burn marks on his skin. Prism reared up his forelegs and brought them down hard. Not wishing a direct hit to the face, Del used his ring and created a shield construct in front of him which Prism's hooves collided with, causing it to crack.
"Prism stop!" Del shouted. "You don't want to do this!"
Prism's hoof broke through Del's construct and grabbed him by the neck. Prism pulled Del closer to him and roared, "BLLAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" Prism roared as he unleashed a pillar of red liquid from his mouth and Del was helpless as his face was bombarded by the liquid.
"Okay...maybe you do." Del admitted as he wiped the liquid off his face. Today was Del's lucky day as the liquid was nothing more than Prism's blood so it didn't burn a hole through his skull.
But Prism wasn't done, far from it, he reared back his head, this time he was going to unleash something that would actually hurt Del. Del, anticipating Prism's moves, used his ring and knocked him back away from Prism as he unleashed a burst of red liquid, which burned a hole in the ground where Del once stood.
"Uh...little help here?" Del asked to his ring.
'The only assistance I can provide is advice, would you like to hear it?'
"What do you think?" Del asked sarcastically.
'As I have said, the only way to subdue a Red Lantern is by dunking them in a Blood Lake or by rendering them unconscious, and I suggest you do it quickly.'
"Why?" Del asked as he created a green shield around him to keep Prism back.
'A Red Lantern ring is comprised of two elements, the red energy of Rage and Blood Magic. Because of this, when a red ring chooses its bearer it stop's its heart and the ring acts as its replacement, expelling the blood and replacing it with red napalm.'
"Where are you going with this?" Del sounded concerned, and it wasn't because Prism was starting to break his construct.
'Because the ring acts as Prism Bolt's heart, should it be destroyed, removed from his hand, or its power levels reach zero percent. Prism Bolt, will DIE.'
Del's eyes went wide at the thought, the thought of Prism dying crossed his mind, his freshly made corpse lied atop a pile of defeated ponies. His colors darkened and his glossy, but what scared Del most of all was the thought of Prism being turned into a zombie by Sombra. Del couldn't let that happen. He would not allow that to happen. Sure Prism Bolt was ass most of the time, but he was Del's friend and friend's don let friend's die.
Prism broke through Del's construct and charged at him, only for Del to dodge causing Prism to ram headfirst against a tree. The tree let out a twisted moan as its trunk cracked and bent before crashing against the ground. Prism turned back to Del, his eyes still glowing red. Del decided that it was time to take the offensive, he started by closing the distance between him and Prism, then he used his ring to create green construct chains that attached themselves to the ground and Prism's hooves to hold him down. With Prism restrained, Del unleashed everything he had onto Prism, punching, kicking, unleashing constructs and beams at him, hoping that it would somehow knock him out.
But all he achieved in doing was making Prism angrier. Prism broke one of the chains easily as he pulled against it and with his hooves free he punched Del under his chin and sent him flying. Del crashed against the ground and stood up shaking.
'You don't seem to be doing so well.'
"You wouldn't happen to have an off switch would you?" Del asked.
'Sorry but no, I'm afraid you're stuck with me until-RED ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED.'
Del was confused until he saw a bright light coming towards them from the sky. It came to a instant halt as it hovered above the ground, its light fading as it became visible. It was a strange looking object, it resembled the shape of an H but the two top parts were sticking out unevenly to the bottom ones and the middle was a red sphere. Del had put two and two together and realized that the object was a red lantern. He didn't know what it was going to do but before he could do anything the Lantern spoke,
'Bearer detected, begin terraformation.'
The lantern rotated itself so that the sphere's hole was aimed towards the ground, it glowed before it unleashed a red beam of energy. It rotated clockwise, causing the beam to carve out a circle that was six feet deep while leaving a pillar in the middle where it sat. Once it was finished it spoke again.
'Terraformation complete. Beginning transfer.'
The lantern glowed once more, but this time instead of pure red energy a red liquid flowed from its opening. The lantern was like a faucet, spewing red liquid into the circle. It ceased the liquid's flow once the circle was completely full of red liquid. Once more the lantern spoke,
'Transfer complete. Blood pool ready for use.'
Today really was Del's lucky day, he had just been provided with the thing capable of saving his friend. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to actually somehow get him into the pool.
"Ring?" Del asked.
'Estimated change of success, 98%. Fortune smiles on you Golden Delicious.'
"It sure does, now let's repay the favor by saving my friend." Del declared.
Prism had broken the last chain connected to him and was completely free, he looked to Del aiming his rage at him. But Del took action before Prism could and grabbed him by the waist. He flew upward and heaved Prism over him. He rotated his body, aiming Prism at the pool before two green rocket construct's appeared on his hindleg's hooves, a green flame erupted from the rocket as it shot Del and Prism straight towards the pool. Del pushed his two forehooves against Prism's stomach as the two rocketed towards the pool.
When he was close enough, Del turned the rockets around, using its force to make his body come to halt. But Prism was at the mercy of gravity as he plummeted into the pool. The blood caved in on where Prism sunk, forcing itself upward before crashing back down causing droplets of blood to shower onto the ground which hissed as they disintegrated the dirt beneath them. Del landed in front of pool, making sure to keep his distance as he didn't want to know what would happen if the blood touched him.
The blood stood still and it became deadly silent. Del waited for something to happen, anything in fact, not to sure if the blood was doing its job or not. As if to answer his call, Prism surfaced screaming and roaring as he flailed about in the pool. Del, knowing that Prism still wasn't in his right of mind, used his ring and created a green construct pool cover over the pool of blood. The red lantern stuck out of the cover as the green light avoided contact with the red.
Del could see bumps forming on the cover, signs that Prism was trying to bust through. But after a while the bumps became smaller, a sign that Prism was beginning to tire himself out. Eventually the bumps stopped and everything became quiet once more, as Del waited for his friend's sanity to return.
Red
The color was everywhere as it wrapped itself around everything it could touch. The color was so deep that Prism could barely make out anything but the color Red. Actually, it was hard to make out anything period. It felt like he had gone blind, cursed to only see the color Red. But that's when something appeared, an image, a memory of someone from his past. Prism's mind was fuzzy, it was hard to think let alone allow a single thought to be processed inside his head. But he somehow managed as he true to mane out the image.
Who was it? And why couldn't Prism understand who it was? The thought made him angry, but as quickly as that anger came it faded just as fast and the image became clear. It was a picture of four ponies, all Pegasi each matching in appearance except for the one holding the foal, he looked different compared to the other three. Almost like he didn't belong in that picture.
It took Prism a second but eventually he remembered what the picture was. It was a picture of his family, his mom and dad standing behind them wearing their Wonderbolt uniforms, a sleeping foal wrapped in a blanket, held by his big brother Prism Bolt. But something seemed off to Prism, something in the picture looked like it was out of place, like it didn't belong. Prism got his answer when he looked at himself in the picture, he looked like he didn't belong, like he wasn't supposed to be there.
Like he should've never been born.
'Isolation.'
'Pain.'
The image faded and a new one appeared, this one of just a Pegasus Stallion. Prism felt like he should've known who he was but his mind continued to draw a blank. It wasn't until a second or two went by that Prism remembered who the Stallion was. It was a picture of Hot Head, walking away with a mare by his side, his head turned around and he was showing off that cocky smirk of his. When Prism saw Hot Head with the mare his rage increased and subdued.
'Rage.'
'Anger.'
'Pain.'
The image faded like the first and just like the second a new one appeared. This one was an image of the mare that was by Hot Head's side, only this picture was of her on the floor with a red mark on her cheek and tears building in her eyes. Prism looked at his hoof, then back at the red on Whirlwind's cheek.
Whirlwind? Yes Whirlwind was her name and she was important to Prism. No, she wasn't just important she was everything to Prism and he...he hit her. He hurt her, it wasn't the slap that caused her to cry it was the fact that Prism lashed out against her that made her cry. Why did Prism do it? What could've possibly possessed him to hurt the only thing he cared for?
'Rage.'
Rage? Yes, it was his rage. He couldn't control his rage and because of that he hurt Whirlwind. His rage was his power, he could never get rid of it or destroy it. But he could control it, strengthen his grip on the fury inside him and instead of hurting those he loved he could protect them. But to that he needed to show his rage who's boss, he needed to show it that he wouldn't allow it to control him, but he would control it.
'Rage.'
'Love.'
'Acceptance.'
Prism began to move, he didn't know where but he was moving and the closer he got to the surface, the more the red light began to fade and everything became more visible. As he got closer words appeared in his mind, demanding that they be spoken.
And Prism complied.
Sweat trickled down Del's forehead as he poured every ounce of his strength into trying to keep the construct stable. But despite his willpower, he couldn't stop the red fumes of the blood pool from burning through his construct.
"With crimson blood and burning Rage."
Del's ears perked up and a shiver went down his spine upon hearing those words
"No longer will my fury be caged."
Del's construct fell apart, shattering like glass as the pieces sunk into the pool
"With my burning hatred and hellish hate."
A head rose out from the pool and a body followed.
"I'll burn all evil, that is their fate."
Prism hovered above the pool, holding his ring high and proud as it shined brightly.
'POWER LEVELS 100%'
Prism descended down and landed in front of Del, who stood in awe at Prism's appearance. His suit was still the same, but splotches of red blood clung to his coat and mane. The way Prism stood and with his new look, Del couldn't deny that he looked like a total badass. But was it really Prism who stood before him, or his rage?
"Prism?" Del spoke softly and carefully, making sure that he wouldn't trigger Prism into his rage state again.
Prism looked at himself, his hooves, his outfit, and then back at Del where he asked, "Del...what am I wearing?" He asked before noticing the crimson black/red liquid on him. "And what the heck is on me? Is this-" Prism licked the red liquid on his hoof to get confirmation. "Is this blood?! Del, why am I covered in blood?!"
Del let out a sigh of relief now knowing that he was talking to Prism. "Well..." Del rubbed that back of his neck sheepishly. "It's kind of a long story."
"Wait..." Prism paused, shaking his head. "Scratch that, my memories just came back." He said, flinching slightly at the headache he received. "Sorry for uppercutting you by the way."
"It's just a scratch, I'll be fine." Del smirked, doing his best to hide the pain from the red mark on his chin.
"If you say so." Prism sighed. "Sooo...you wouldn't by any chance know what this thing is do you?" Prism asked pointing at the red ring on his right hoof.
"Ah...that...right." Del avoided eye contact with Prism. "You better get comfy, cause this is gonna be a lot to take in."
Universe 52
While the events transpired in Equestria, something else was happening in its neighboring universe. Universe 52 to be exact. At the very corner of the universe there was a prison, a cube shaped object that was comprised of seven colors changing into another every second. Inside the cube it held one of the most dangerous criminals in the universe. Inside was a man, his skin pale and ghostlike, unlike his left arm his right was uncovered and its veins popped out and bulged as a black ring rested nicely on his middle finger. He wore a black suit, boots, and mask that left his eyes and mouth exposed and he had a cape. On his chest and head was the Black Lantern symbol.
This man was once known as William Derek Hand, but after he died and rose from the dead he has been known as Black Hand. Currently he sat in a lazy boy with a book in his hand titled "Bones". Against one of the sides of the cube was a shelf filled books of all kind. Scattered across the floor were books that Black Hand had finished reading. While midway in his book Black Hand looked outside to see that he had visitors. Two Green Lantern's hovered outside, both human.
"Greetings houseguests!" He proclaimed tossing the book he was reading onto the ground. "Sorry for the mess, I would've tidy up the place had I known you were coming."
"We're not here to play games Hand." The Lantern on the right growled.
"Then let me guess, you're here to try and remove this aren't you?" Black Hand held up his right hand, showing off his ring. "Here, let me give you a better look." Black Hand said, lowering his three fingers and thumb while leaving the middle one that held the ring up. "Better?"
The two Lantern's ignored Black Hand's crude gestures and continued. "We've come to offer you a deal. Return the ring you sent and the one you have and we'll let you go."
"Yeah, right." Black Hand scoffed. "Sorry to disappoint you but there's only two ways this thing comes off. One, I take it off willingly. Or two, someone wielding the white light takes it off. And last time I checked the only one capable of that was your friend Kyle Rayner." Black Hand clasped his hands against his cheeks. "But wait, he can't do that can he? Why?" Black Hand asked, a grin growing on his face. "It's because he's DEAD."
The right Green Lantern slammed his fist against the wall, only causing Black Hand's triumphant smile to grow. The left Lantern put his hand on the right one's shoulder, which seemed to calm him down. He removed his fist and turned his back to Black Hand. "You'll never win Hand." He said as the two began to fly away. "We beat you once and we'll beat you again."
Once they were gone Black Hand stood up and walked over to the shelf.
"The stage is set." He spoke as he grabbed a book, its cover changing upon Hand's touch. "The time draws near. As all watch in horror, their hearts gripped with fear." He continued to speak as he eyed the black hardcover book with the Black Lantern symbol on it. "Their hope has died, their will is gone. Their greed consumes them, the end has come." He continued to speak as he opened the book. "Their love has shattered, their hearts filled with rage." He spoke flipping through the pages before coming to the one he wanted. "Compassion be damned." He spat. "It's time for a new age." He said, understanding his instructions he closed the book. "It's all over now, you will try and you will fail. You little lights will never win, the darkness always prevails." Black Hand said as he aimed his ring. "But if you refuse to bow down, and you decide to stay and fight. Then come at me then!" Black Hand's voice rose as his ring created a black portal. "Let your colors burn bright!" Black Hand said as he tossed the book into the portal. "Face the darkness, and show me your might!"
Black Hand smiled, cackling like a maniac at the wondrous events that were to transpire